Architecture of carbon fluxes in fluvial networks

Streams and rivers are now recognized as major players of the global carbon cycle. ARCARNET has contributed to this advancement. We have determined global CO2 evasion fluxes from streams and coined the term of the boundless carbon cycle. We have also shown that and why CO2 outgassing from stream varies seasonally and diurnally and did so even at the scale of stream networks. We have highlighted the role of ice as major reservoirs of organic carbon and have described its biogeochemistry in Alpine glaciers. Along this line, we have also pioneered the biofilm ecology in glacier-fed streams. We also explored the use of organic carbon by stream biofilms along altitudinal gradients in the Alps. We were able to do research in Africa to study the effect of land use on carbon dynamics in stream network. Finally, we studied the biodiversity dynamics in fluvial networks and their spatial organization. ARCARNET has advanced the fields of stream biogeochemistry and microbial ecology.