About

Professor Diego Riveros-Iregui is a distinguished scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he holds the title of Bowman & Gordon Gray Distinguished Professor of Geography. His research focuses on watershed hydrology, ecohydrology, critical zone science, and land-atmosphere interactions. He studies the water and carbon cycles, as well as the fate and transport of nutrients and pollutants within watersheds, investigating feedbacks among the geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere across various spatial scales from individual plots to regional watersheds. His work employs both field-based and modeling approaches to understand how landscape morphology mediates interactions and feedbacks among physical and biological processes. Professor Riveros-Iregui has made significant contributions to understanding the role of small wetlands, beaver dams, stormwater ponds, and tropical glacierized volcanoes in controlling hydrological and biogeochemical processes. His research has a global scope, including projects in the Andes of Ecuador, and he has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the Biden White House, a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, and the NSF CAREER Award. He is actively involved in advancing knowledge on greenhouse gas emissions, hydrologic dynamics, and the impacts of landscape features on water and biogeochemical cycles, contributing to both fundamental science and practical applications in environmental management and policy.

Selected publications

• Hydroclimate and landscape diversity drive highly variable greenhouse gas emissions from tropical and subtropical inland waters

  UNC Libraries · 2026-04-18

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Carbon Emissions From Low‐Order Streams in a Tropical, High‐Elevation, Peatland Ecosystem Are Mediated by Catchment Morphology

  UNC Libraries · 2026-03-07

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Inland waters emit large amounts of carbon and are key players in the global carbon budget. Particularly high rates of carbon emissions have been reported in streams draining mountains, tropical regions, and peatlands. However, few studies have examined the spatial variability of CO 2 concentrations and fluxes occurring within these systems, particularly as a function of catchment morphology. Here we evaluated spatial patterns of CO 2 in three tropical, headwater catchments in relation to the river network and stream geomorphology. We measured dissolved carbon dioxide ( p CO 2 ), aquatic CO 2 emissions, discharge, and stream depth and width at high spatial resolutions along multiple stream reaches. Confirming previous studies, we found that tropical headwater streams are an important source of CO 2 to the atmosphere. More notably, we found marked, predictable spatial organization in aquatic carbon fluxes as a function of landscape position. For example, p CO 2 was consistently high (>10,000 ppm) at locations close to groundwater sources and just downstream of hydrologically connected wetlands, but consistently low (<1,000 ppm) in high gradient locations or river segments with larger drainage areas. Taken together, our findings suggest that catchment area and stream slope are important drivers of p CO 2 and gas transfer velocity ( k ) in mountainous streams, and as such they should be considered in catchment‐scale assessments of CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, our work suggests that accurate estimation of CO 2 emissions requires understanding of dynamics across the entire stream network, from the smallest seeps to larger streams. 

  PublisherDOI

• Hydroclimate and landscape diversity drive highly variable greenhouse gas emissions from tropical and subtropical inland waters

  Nature Water · 2025-10-17 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  (Sub)tropical inland waters are important greenhouse gas (GHG) sources, yet limited observations have long hindered broad analyses of GHG variability across this diverse region. Here, through a meta-analysis, we have examined the rates and drivers of GHG emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters. We find considerable spatial variation in fluxes, largely related to differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance. Flowing waters emit more carbon dioxide (3,387 2,121 5,702 TgCO2 yr−1, expressing median first quartile third quartile ), methane (10.6 0.1 28.8 TgCH4 yr−1) and nitrous oxide (0.62 0.35 1.10 TgN2O yr−1) than standing waters (114 73 219 TgCO2 yr−1, 5.4 2.1 9.1 TgCH4 yr−1 and 0.03 0.02 0.05 TgN2O yr−1, respectively). (Sub)tropical inland waters release 4,238 2473 7375 TgCO2-equivalents annually, with first- to third-order streams contributing 75% of riverine emissions and lakes larger than 100 km2 contributing 59% of standing water emissions. Our results suggest emissions from (sub)tropical waters are 29–72% lower than earlier estimates, a downward revision with important implications for global GHG budgets. This meta-analysis assesses the rates and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions from flowing and standing (sub)tropical inland waters, finding that emissions are lower than previous estimates. Considerable spatial variation in fluxes arises mainly from differences in hydroclimate, geomorphology, land cover and human disturbance.

  PublisherDOI

• Carbon Emissions From Low‐Order Streams in a Tropical, High‐Elevation, Peatland Ecosystem Are Mediated by Catchment Morphology

  Water Resources Research · 2025-04-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Inland waters emit large amounts of carbon and are key players in the global carbon budget. Particularly high rates of carbon emissions have been reported in streams draining mountains, tropical regions, and peatlands. However, few studies have examined the spatial variability of CO 2 concentrations and fluxes occurring within these systems, particularly as a function of catchment morphology. Here we evaluated spatial patterns of CO 2 in three tropical, headwater catchments in relation to the river network and stream geomorphology. We measured dissolved carbon dioxide ( p CO 2 ), aquatic CO 2 emissions, discharge, and stream depth and width at high spatial resolutions along multiple stream reaches. Confirming previous studies, we found that tropical headwater streams are an important source of CO 2 to the atmosphere. More notably, we found marked, predictable spatial organization in aquatic carbon fluxes as a function of landscape position. For example, p CO 2 was consistently high (>10,000 ppm) at locations close to groundwater sources and just downstream of hydrologically connected wetlands, but consistently low (<1,000 ppm) in high gradient locations or river segments with larger drainage areas. Taken together, our findings suggest that catchment area and stream slope are important drivers of p CO 2 and gas transfer velocity ( k ) in mountainous streams, and as such they should be considered in catchment‐scale assessments of CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, our work suggests that accurate estimation of CO 2 emissions requires understanding of dynamics across the entire stream network, from the smallest seeps to larger streams.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Fluxes from Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments in a High-Altitude Tropical Catchment

  HydroShare Resources · 2025-08-28

  datasetOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Water Temperature and Catchment Characteristics Drive Variation in Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions from Small Ponds in a Peatland-Rich, High-Altitude Tropical Ecosystem

  HydroShare Resources · 2025-02-22

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Carbon fluxes and In-Stream Metabolism in a High-Altitude Tropical Peatland Ecosystem of The Andes Mountains

  2025-03-14

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The importance of rivers and streams to the global carbon cycle is well established, and increasingly. research has emphasized the role of in-stream metabolism on carbon transformation within aquatic environments. However, while stream metabolism studies are abundant in northern latitudes, research on tropical streams remains notably scarce. In this study, we characterized carbon fluxes into and out of a small stream in a tropical, peatland-rich ecosystem of the Andes mountains. We measured dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, and discharge every 15 minutes at 4 locations downstream of a large peatland. Measurements were collected semi-continuously for a period of 12 months. CO2evasion was both measured directly and estimated indirectly for comparison. We used continuous dissolved oxygen to estimate daily ecosystem respiration (ER) and gross primary production (GPP) throughout the study period using a Bayesian-based metabolism model. Our results unveiled both seasonal and event-driven patterns in carbon dynamics throughout the year. At the peatland outlet, the stream channel was strongly heterotrophic throughout the study period (GPP

  PublisherDOI

• A machine learning approach to estimate domestic use of public and private water sources in the United States

  Water Research · 2025-01-26 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Spatiotemporal variability of gas transfer velocity in a tropical high-elevation stream using two independent methods

  HydroShare Resources · 2025-08-28

  datasetOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Water temperature and catchment characteristics drive variation in carbon dioxide and methane emissions from small ponds in a peatland‐rich, high‐altitude tropical ecosystem

  Limnology and Oceanography · 2025-11-04

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Inland waters release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, with small ponds acting as hot spots. High variability and limited research make emissions from small waterbodies a major source of uncertainty, especially in underrepresented tropical ecosystems where unique drivers remain poorly understood. We evaluated the magnitude and sources of variability in emissions from small waterbodies of the páramo—a tropical ecoregion in the Andes mountains, characterized by carbon‐rich soils. We measured partial pressure of carbon dioxide ( p CO 2 ), methane ( p CH 4 ) and CO 2 emissions from small (< 5000 m 2 ) waterbodies, 11 ponds and 1 wetland, 3 times in the wet season and returned to 8 sites in the dry season. Sites were always supersaturated in p CH 4 (1096 ± 1482 μ atm), but occasionally undersaturated in p CO 2 (1224 ± 1585 μ atm). Variability between ponds was high and primarily driven by elevation and water temperature. Catchment soil‐water connectivity was also predictive of p CO 2 . Mean wet‐season emission rates were 0.34 ± 0.54 g CO 2 ‐C m −2 d −1 and 0.012 ± 0.018 g CH 4 ‐C m −2 d −1 and surface area fluctuations were a large source of seasonal variability in some ponds. Though an open‐water transect of the wetland site was similar to ponds, we measured very high p CH 4 (1678 ± 2629 μ atm) and p CO 2 (5162 ± 3207 μ atm) along the wetland perimeter. Our findings provide essential insights for incorporating a significant yet understudied tropical ecosystem into the global carbon budget by confirming previous observations that small ponds can emit a disproportionately large amount of carbon to the atmosphere, but also highlighting the importance of variables other than pond size in controlling emission hot spots.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Labs

• Carbonshed Lab at CarolinaPI

Awards & honors

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers…
• Faculty Award for Global Excellence from the Office of the V…
• Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Ecuador (2022-2023)
• GSA Research Grant and Outstanding Mention from the Society…
• Community Engagement Fellowship from the Carolina Center for…