Comparative aquatic greenhouse gas emission rates across multiple land-use types and along impounded river systems

Inland water greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly influenced by anthropogenic activities, with significant shifts in both the magnitude and composition of the emissions. To quantify this impact, we systematically synthesized data from 33 peer-reviewed publications reporting aquatic GHG emission rates across three anthropogenically modified landscapes—agricultural, urban, and impounded river systems. Our analysis reveals that inland waters within these systems exhibit substantially elevated GHG emissions compared to natural counterparts. Methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions show the most pronounced enhancements, with median amplification ratios of 2.0–10 and 2.4–13, respectively, across the studied systems. In contrast, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions demonstrate comparatively lower amplification (median ratios of <2.0–3.1). These findings highlight a pronounced human footprint on aquatic GHG fluxes and their associated biogeochemical drivers, emphasizing the need to prioritize anthropogenic landscapes in GHG mitigation strategies.

Methods
This dataset contains comparative measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates from anthropogenically impacted inland waters and their corresponding reference sites. The data were compiled from a total of 33 peer-reviewed publications reporting emission rates across multiple land-use types and along impounded rivers. Both the ranges and arithmetic means of GHG emission rates were extracted, with all values standarized to units of molar mass per square meter per day (mol m-2 d-1). For agricultural and urban inland waters, reference sites were defined inland waters situalted in relatively more pristine forest or grassland land uses, as specified in the original studies. For reservoirs, reference sites were identified as their upstream reaches, as also specified in the original studies.