Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters

Francesco Ulloa-Cedamanos; Adam T. Rexroade; Anna Lintern; Marcus B. Wallin; Yihan Li; Dylan J. Irvine; Lindsay B. Hutley; Josep G. Canadell; Judith A. Rosentreter; Jacob Z.Q. Yeo; Bradley D. Eyre; David E. Butman; Clément Duvert

doi:10.1002/lol2.70098

Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters

Francesco Ulloa-Cedamanos^*
, Adam T. Rexroade
, Anna Lintern
, Marcus B. Wallin
, Yihan Li
, Dylan J. Irvine
, Lindsay B. Hutley
, Josep G. Canadell
, Judith A. Rosentreter
, Jacob Z.Q. Yeo
, Bradley D. Eyre
, David E. Butman
, Clément Duvert^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment

Publication: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

Abstract

Rivers play a crucial role in the transformation and export of carbon (C) to coastal waters, yet limited observations in Australia have hindered accurate C flux estimates. We compiled 27,696 dissolved inorganic C (DIC), 15,012 dissolved organic C (DOC), and 226 particulate organic C (POC) measurements in Australian rivers and combined these with modeled discharge to estimate Australian-scale C export. Annual riverine C export was 19.1 (6.1-47.9) & times; 10(3) Gg C yr(-1), with DIC and DOC exports 2.9 and 2.7 times higher than previous estimates, while POC was 2.6 times lower. The Australian tropics contributed 65%, 39%, and 66% of national DIC, DOC, and POC exports, respectively, despite covering only 11% of exorheic Australia. Within tropical basins, wet-season C export was 158-423 times higher than dry-season C export. These findings underscore the dominant influence of tropical rivers and their strong seasonal pulse on Australia's riverine C export.

Original language	English
Article number	e70098
Number of pages	12
Journal	Limnology and Oceanography Letters
Volume	11
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70098
Publication status	Published - 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Author(s). Limnology and Oceanography Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

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Ulloa-Cedamanos, F., Rexroade, A. T., Lintern, A., Wallin, M. B., Li, Y., Irvine, D. J., Hutley, L. B., Canadell, J. G., Rosentreter, J. A., Yeo, J. Z. Q., Eyre, B. D., Butman, D. E., & Duvert, C. (2026). Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 11(2), Article e70098. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70098

@article{a6f88783dc6943afb1f9a2653077e586,

title = "Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters",

abstract = "Rivers play a crucial role in the transformation and export of carbon (C) to coastal waters, yet limited observations in Australia have hindered accurate C flux estimates. We compiled 27,696 dissolved inorganic C (DIC), 15,012 dissolved organic C (DOC), and 226 particulate organic C (POC) measurements in Australian rivers and combined these with modeled discharge to estimate Australian-scale C export. Annual riverine C export was 19.1 (6.1-47.9) \& times; 10(3) Gg C yr(-1), with DIC and DOC exports 2.9 and 2.7 times higher than previous estimates, while POC was 2.6 times lower. The Australian tropics contributed 65\%, 39\%, and 66\% of national DIC, DOC, and POC exports, respectively, despite covering only 11\% of exorheic Australia. Within tropical basins, wet-season C export was 158-423 times higher than dry-season C export. These findings underscore the dominant influence of tropical rivers and their strong seasonal pulse on Australia's riverine C export.",

author = "Francesco Ulloa-Cedamanos and Rexroade, \{Adam T.\} and Anna Lintern and Wallin, \{Marcus B.\} and Yihan Li and Irvine, \{Dylan J.\} and Hutley, \{Lindsay B.\} and Canadell, \{Josep G.\} and Rosentreter, \{Judith A.\} and Yeo, \{Jacob Z.Q.\} and Eyre, \{Bradley D.\} and Butman, \{David E.\} and Cl{\'e}ment Duvert",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Author(s). Limnology and Oceanography Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1002/lol2.70098",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Limnology and Oceanography Letters",

issn = "2378-2242",

publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Inc",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters

AU - Ulloa-Cedamanos, Francesco

AU - Rexroade, Adam T.

AU - Lintern, Anna

AU - Wallin, Marcus B.

AU - Li, Yihan

AU - Irvine, Dylan J.

AU - Hutley, Lindsay B.

AU - Canadell, Josep G.

AU - Rosentreter, Judith A.

AU - Yeo, Jacob Z.Q.

AU - Eyre, Bradley D.

AU - Butman, David E.

AU - Duvert, Clément

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Rivers play a crucial role in the transformation and export of carbon (C) to coastal waters, yet limited observations in Australia have hindered accurate C flux estimates. We compiled 27,696 dissolved inorganic C (DIC), 15,012 dissolved organic C (DOC), and 226 particulate organic C (POC) measurements in Australian rivers and combined these with modeled discharge to estimate Australian-scale C export. Annual riverine C export was 19.1 (6.1-47.9) & times; 10(3) Gg C yr(-1), with DIC and DOC exports 2.9 and 2.7 times higher than previous estimates, while POC was 2.6 times lower. The Australian tropics contributed 65%, 39%, and 66% of national DIC, DOC, and POC exports, respectively, despite covering only 11% of exorheic Australia. Within tropical basins, wet-season C export was 158-423 times higher than dry-season C export. These findings underscore the dominant influence of tropical rivers and their strong seasonal pulse on Australia's riverine C export.

AB - Rivers play a crucial role in the transformation and export of carbon (C) to coastal waters, yet limited observations in Australia have hindered accurate C flux estimates. We compiled 27,696 dissolved inorganic C (DIC), 15,012 dissolved organic C (DOC), and 226 particulate organic C (POC) measurements in Australian rivers and combined these with modeled discharge to estimate Australian-scale C export. Annual riverine C export was 19.1 (6.1-47.9) & times; 10(3) Gg C yr(-1), with DIC and DOC exports 2.9 and 2.7 times higher than previous estimates, while POC was 2.6 times lower. The Australian tropics contributed 65%, 39%, and 66% of national DIC, DOC, and POC exports, respectively, despite covering only 11% of exorheic Australia. Within tropical basins, wet-season C export was 158-423 times higher than dry-season C export. These findings underscore the dominant influence of tropical rivers and their strong seasonal pulse on Australia's riverine C export.

UR - https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146497

U2 - 10.1002/lol2.70098

DO - 10.1002/lol2.70098

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2378-2242

VL - 11

JO - Limnology and Oceanography Letters

JF - Limnology and Oceanography Letters

IS - 2

M1 - e70098

ER -

Tropical river discharge dominates riverine carbon export to Australia's coastal waters

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