Like the circulatory system that helps move blood, carry nutrients and filter waste in the human body, the planet’s river networks are in a very real sense similar conduits that help keep the planet alive.
Like the circulatory system that helps move blood, carry nutrients and filter waste in the human body, the planet’s river networks are in a very real sense similar conduits that help keep the planet alive.
One of a river’s important functions is removing some of the pollution that ends up in its waters — from roads, lawns, septic systems and sewage treatment plants, agriculture (and more) — before those waters reach sensitive downstream ecosystems like estuaries and oceans.
New research has found that watershed size plays a major role in a river network’s ability to do this work. The findings both further our understanding of which estuaries and coastal areas will be more impacted by human development in their watersheds and shed light on the intricacies of the global carbon cycle.
Using a model that integrates what is known about how streams and rivers function, the team of scientists found that when the area of land (the “watershed”) that drains into an aquatic system increases, the rate at which rivers filter pollution doesn’t just increase at a linear rate — it increases even faster, thanks to the larger rivers that commonly go hand-in-hand with larger watersheds.
Read more at University of New Hampshire
Photo Credit: vjgalaxy via Pixabay
