Spatiotemporal Assessments of Greenhouse Gas Production and Flux in Headwater Tropical Streams

While the importance of headwater streams in the global carbon cycle seems clear today, rates of greenhouse gas (i.e., CO₂, CH₄) production and flux from headwater streams are poorly constrained. This scientific gap is particularly evident in tropical regions where long-term data acquisition remains logistically challenging. We quantified CO₂ production and efflux from surface waters in the Páramo region of Ecuador, including alpine wetland complexes that are connected and drained by well-defined stream channels. Using a suite of environmental sensors, we evaluated the spatial and temporal dynamics of CO₂ at the watershed scales and assessed its main driving variables. We report on independent measurement methodologies to quantify the annual contribution of CO₂ from a carbon rich ecosystem and the role of a dynamic hydrologic cycle across scales. Our results have implications for water and ecological resource management of high-elevation tropical ecosystems.