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Depth-resolved carbon dioxide and methane concentrations in 522 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs worldwide

Joseph S. Rabaey·Abigail S. Lewis·Katrin Attermeyer·Patrick Aurich·Sheel Bansal·Maciej Bartosiewicz·Brittni L. Bertolet·Ingeborg Bussmann·Sarah B. Cadieux·Elisa Calamita·Camilla Capelli·Cayelan C. Carey·Carmen Cillero·Francois Clayer·Sofia L. D'Ambrosio·Thomas A. Davidson·Bridget R. Deemer·Blaize A. Denfeld·Werner Eckert·Chiara Esposito·Phillip Ford·Adrianna Gorsky·Natalie A. Griffiths·Hans-Peter F. Grossart·David P. Hamilton·Meredith A. Holgerson·Brian J. Huser·Tomoya Iwata·Joachim Jansen·Stuart E. Jones·Sari Juutinen·Pirkko Kortelainen·Matthias Koschorreck·Theis Kragh·Alo Laas·Tuula Larmola·Saskia Läubli·Isabelle Laurion·Moritz F. Lehmann·Liu Liu·Pertti J. Martikainen·Anna Matoušů·Stephen A. McCord·Jorge J. Montes-Pérez·Daniele Nizzoli·César Ordóñez·Mike Peacock·Rachel M. Pilla·Vilmantas Prėskienis·Junbing Pu·Tenna Riis·Taija Saarela·Arianto B. Santoso·Carsten Schubert·Armando Sepulveda-Jauregui·Bradford S. Sherman·Jonas S. Sø·Katherine J. Stenehjem·Kristin E.D. Strock·Kenji Tsuchiya·Katrin Wendt-Potthoff·Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer·Petr Znachor·Jakob Zopfi
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Abstract

Lakes, ponds, and reservoirs (hereafter: “lakes”) are important sources of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ). Emissions of CO 2 and CH 4 from lakes are regulated in part by in-lake processes, including the production and storage of gases in the lower parts of the water column (bottom waters). However, while substantial efforts have been made to improve estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from lakes, limited data on gas concentrations along depth profiles have prevented the incorporation of bottom-water processes in global emission estimates. Here, we present GHG-depths: the largest existing dataset of depth-profile CO 2 and CH 4 measurements worldwide, including 522 lakes across 38 countries and all seven continents. These data include contributions from 45 research teams and 56 published studies, totaling 2558 discrete sampling events. As global change continues to alter biogeochemical cycling in lakes, these data can help improve mechanistic models to better predict greenhouse gas production and emission from lakes worldwide.

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Joseph S. Rabaey, Abigail S. Lewis, Katrin Attermeyer, Patrick Aurich, Sheel Bansal, Maciej Bartosiewicz, Brittni L. Bertolet, Ingeborg Bussmann, Sarah B. Cadieux, Elisa Calamita, Camilla Capelli, Cayelan C. Carey, Carmen Cillero, Francois Clayer, Sofia L. D'Ambrosio, Thomas A. Davidson, Bridget R. Deemer, Blaize A. Denfeld, Werner Eckert, Chiara Esposito, Phillip Ford, Adrianna Gorsky, Natalie A. Griffiths, Hans-Peter F. Grossart, David P. Hamilton, Meredith A. Holgerson, Brian J. Huser, Tomoya Iwata, Joachim Jansen, Stuart E. Jones, Sari Juutinen, Pirkko Kortelainen, Matthias Koschorreck, Theis Kragh, Alo Laas, Tuula Larmola, Saskia Läubli, Isabelle Laurion, Moritz F. Lehmann, Liu Liu, Pertti J. Martikainen, Anna Matoušů, Stephen A. McCord, Jorge J. Montes-Pérez, Daniele Nizzoli, César Ordóñez, Mike Peacock, Rachel M. Pilla, Vilmantas Prėskienis, Junbing Pu, Tenna Riis, Taija Saarela, Arianto B. Santoso, Carsten Schubert, Armando Sepulveda-Jauregui, Bradford S. Sherman, Jonas S. Sø, Katherine J. Stenehjem, Kristin E.D. Strock, Kenji Tsuchiya, Katrin Wendt-Potthoff, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Petr Znachor, Jakob Zopfi. 2026-02-19. Depth-resolved carbon dioxide and methane concentrations in 522 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs worldwide. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06751-0

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