Dataset associated with "A First-Order Approximation of Floodplain Soil Organic Carbon Stocks in a River Network: the South Platte River, Colorado, USA"
Files
README.pdf (83.02 KB) floodplain widths.xlsx (1.37 MB) Floodplain widths floodplains.gdb.zip (3.84 MB) Floodplain extents for the three contributing area thresholds (50, 25, 10 square kms), a compressed ArcGIS Pro file geodatabase floodplain_widths_tidy.zip (501.87 KB) Zip file of three csv files with floodplain widths for each of the three floodplains (50, 25, 10 square km threshold) in tidy format lakes_reservoirs.csv (46.96 KB) Lake and reservoir elevation and area
Date
2022
Authors
Wohl, Ellen
Knox, Richard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
We use the hydrogeomorphic floodplain tool GFPLAIN to delineate the extent of 100-year floodplains in the South Platte River watershed of Colorado, USA. We distinguish elevation bands for the steppe, montane, subalpine, and alpine zones. We also differentiate bead (floodplain width/channel width > 5) and string (floodplain width/channel width < 5) reaches within the montane and subalpine zones. Drawing on prior, field-based measurements of organic carbon stock in downed, dead wood and soil in these floodplain types, we estimate total floodplain organic carbon storage, which includes organic carbon storage in lake and reservoir sediments in the watershed. Soil constitutes the greatest reservoir of floodplain carbon. The total estimated area of floodplain is 2916 km2, which is 4.3% of the total watershed area of the South Platte River. Our preferred estimate is 42.7 Tg C storage (likely range of 39.1-42.7 Tg). This equates to 11.1% of a previously estimated overall carbon stock (above and belowground biomass and soil organic carbon) in the entire watershed of 384 Tg C. Floodplains are thus disproportionately important, relative to their surface area, in storing organic carbon in this semiarid watershed. Field measurements of floodplain soil organic carbon storage from across the globe indicate that this finding is not unique to this watershed and this has implications for prioritizing floodplain management and restoration as a means of enhancing carbon sequestration.
Description
This data includes floodplain extent, raw floodplain data (elevation, stream order association), floodplain widths, and lake and reservoir information for the South Platte river basin.
Department of Geosciences
Department of Geosciences
Rights Access
Subject
carbon sequestration
river restoration
management
Citation
Associated Publications
Wohl, E., Knox, R. L., 2022. A first-order approximation of floodplain soil organic carbon stocks in a river network: The South Platte River, Colorado, USA as a case study. Science of The Total Environment. 852, 158507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158507