Mapping global lake dynamics reveals the emerging roles of small lakes

Pi，Xuehui1,2,3; Luo，Qiuqi1; Feng，Lian1; Xu，Yang1,4; Tang，Jing5; Liang，Xiuyu1; Ma，Enze1; Cheng，Ran6; Fensholt，Rasmus4; Brandt，Martin4; Cai，Xiaobin7; Gibson，Luke1; Liu，Junguo1,8; Zheng，Chunmiao1,9; Li，Weifeng2,3,10; Bryan，Brett A.11

2022-12-01

10.1038/s41467-022-33239-3

Nature Communications   Impact Factor & Quartile

2041-1723

Lakes are important natural resources and carbon gas emitters and are undergoing rapid changes worldwide in response to climate change and human activities. A detailed global characterization of lakes and their long-term dynamics does not exist, which is however crucial for evaluating the associated impacts on water availability and carbon emissions. Here, we map 3.4 million lakes on a global scale, including their explicit maximum extents and probability-weighted area changes over the past four decades. From the beginning period (1984–1999) to the end (2010–2019), the lake area increased across all six continents analyzed, with a net change of +46,278 km, and 56% of the expansion was attributed to reservoirs. Interestingly, although small lakes (<1 km) accounted for just 15% of the global lake area, they dominated the variability in total lake size in half of the global inland lake regions. The identified lake area increase over time led to higher lacustrine carbon emissions, mostly attributed to small lakes. Our findings illustrate the emerging roles of small lakes in regulating not only local inland water variability, but also the global trends of surface water extent and carbon emissions.

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

First ; Corresponding

National Natural Science Foundation of China[41971304] ; Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Hydrosphere and Watershed Water Security[XDA20060402] ; Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee[JCYJ20190809155205559] ; Stable Support Plan Program of the Shenzhen Natural Science Fund[20200925155151006] ; Shenzhen Science and Technology Program[KCXFZ20201221173007020] ; Villum Fonden[34306] ; Swedish FORMAS mobility grant[2016-01580]

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:000862552600006

NATURE PORTFOLIO

2-s2.0-85139173086

Scopus

1.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
2.Department of Urban Planning and Design,The University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong
3.Urban Systems Institute,The University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong
4.Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management,University of Copenhagen,Copenhagen,Denmark
5.Department of Biology,University of Copenhagen,Copenhagen,Denmark
6.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain-inspired Intelligent Computation,Department of Computer Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
7.Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Wuhan,China
8.School of Water Conservancy,North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power,Zhengzhou,450046,China
9.EIT Institute for Advanced Study,Ningbo,China
10.Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality,The University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong
11.Centre for Integrative Ecology,School of Life and Environmental Sciences,Deakin University,Burwood,Australia

Pi，Xuehui,Luo，Qiuqi,Feng，Lian,et al. Mapping global lake dynamics reveals the emerging roles of small lakes[J]. Nature Communications,2022,13(1).

Pi，Xuehui.,Luo，Qiuqi.,Feng，Lian.,Xu，Yang.,Tang，Jing.,...&Bryan，Brett A..(2022).Mapping global lake dynamics reveals the emerging roles of small lakes.Nature Communications,13(1).

Pi，Xuehui,et al."Mapping global lake dynamics reveals the emerging roles of small lakes".Nature Communications 13.1(2022).