Supporting Information for: Annual water, sediment, nutrient and organic carbon fluxes in river basins: a global meta-analysis as a function of scale M. Mutema1*, V. Chaplot2 G. Jewitt1, P. Chivenge1 and G. Blöschl3 1 SAEES, CWRR, University of KwaZulu-Natal, PB X01, Scottsville 3209, Pietermaritzburg, RSA, macdexo@gmail.com 2 Institut de Recherché pour le Développement (IRD), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat (LOCEAN), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4, place Jussieu 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France 3 Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria * Corresponding author : macdexo@gmail.com (Macdex Mutema) Water Resources Research Journal Introduction The data set provided in the separate Excel file contains data obtained from the journal articles consulted for the literature review. The papers include work done in different locations of the world over a period spanning several decades back and literature review papers. It also contains secondary data obtained through our calculations using known formulae to generate data relevant for our purposes. 1. Column “ID No.”, identification number of paper for purposes of our review. 2. Column “Author”, author(s) of paper and year paper was published. 3. Column “Country”, country where work reported was done or where the information came. 4. Column “Climate”, climate of the site where work was done as indicated in paper or, when not indicated in paper, from other papers research articles reporting on work done on same site or other sources. 5. Column “POS”, position of the particular data sources as indicated in paper e.g. plot name or number, and position on the slope. 6. Column “Yrs”, length of study period in years for which the data was generated. 7. Column “Size”, m2, size of plot or catchment or river basin. 8. Column “Llength”, m, slope length or characteristic slope length calculated as squareroot of area provided by paper. 9. Column “Rmm”, mm, total annual runoff recorded or calculated. 10. Column “Rf”, runoff coefficient as a fraction calculated through dividing the total annual runoff by total annual precipitation. 11. Column “RC”, %, runoff coefficient as a percent. 12. Column “SC”, g L-1, level of concentration of sediments in the runoff water as indicated by paper or calculated. 13. Column “SL (g m-2)”, g m-2, amount of sediment loss per unit area from a plot or catchment or river basin, as indicated by paper or obtained by multiplying SC × Rmm. 14. Column “SL (g m-2 yr-1)”, g m-2 yr-1, amount of sediment loss per unit area from a plot or catchment or river basin in one year, as indicated by paper or calculated. 15. Column “POCC (g kg-1)”, g kg-1, average concentration of organic carbon in the sediments as given by paper or calculated. 16. Column “DOCC (mg L-1)”, mg L-1, average concentration of dissolved organic carbon in the runoff as given by paper or calculated. 17. Column “POCL”, g m-2, annual particulate organic carbon export in sediments as given by paper or calculated. 18. Column “DOCL”, g m-2, annual dissolved organic carbon export in runoff as given by paper or calculated. 19. Column “TOCL (gm-2 yr-1)”, gm-2 yr-1, total annual organic carbon export per unit area of plot or catchment or basin as given by paper or calculated. 20. Column “PNC (g kg-1)”, g kg-1, average concentration of nitrogen content in sediments as given by paper or calculated. 21. Column “DNC (mg L-1)”, mg L-1, average concentration of nitrogen content in the runoff as given by paper or calculated. 22. Column “PNL”, mg m-2, annual nitrogen export in sediments as given by paper or calculated. 23. Column “DNL”, mg m-2, annual nitrogen export in runoff as given by paper or calculated. 24. Column “TNL (mg m-2 yr-1)”, mg m-2 yr-1, total annual nitrogen export per unit area of plot or catchment or river basin as given by paper or calculated. 25. Column “PPC (g kg-1)”, g kg-1, average concentration of phosphorus in the sediments as given by paper or calculated. 26. Column “DPC (mg L-1)”, mg L-1, average concentration of phosphorus in the runoff as given by paper or calculated. 27. Column “PPL”, mg m-2, annual phosphorus export in sediments as given by paper or calculated. 28. Column “DPL”, mg m-2, annual phosphorus export in runoff as given by paper or calculated. 29. Column “TPL (mg m-2 yr-1)”, mg m-2 yr-1, total annual phosphorus export per unit area of plot or catchment or basin as given by paper or calculated. 30. Column “Total Rainfall”, mm, annual precipitation recorded during the trial period. 31. Column “MAP”, mm yr-1, long-term or 30-year average precipitation for trial site as given by paper of obtained from the WORLDCLIM Database. 32. Column “MAT”, degrees Celcius, long-term or 30-year average temperature for trial site as given by paper or obtained from WORLDCLIM Database. 33. Column “Z”, m, altitude of observation point/site or average of altitudes given by paper. 34. Column “LONG”, degrees, longitudinal position of plot or catchment or river basin outlet. 35. Column “LAT”, degrees, latitudinal position of plot or catchment or river basin outlet as given by paper. 36. Column “LU”, the most dominant land use in terms of fractional area covered as reported by paper. 37. Column “BD”, g cm-3, soil bulk density as given by paper or average of given values for the plot or catchment or river basin. 38. Column “S”, %, slope gradient of plot or average slope gradient of catchment or river basin as given by paper. 39. Column “Cov”, %, average soil cover by vegetation of the plot or catchment or river basin as derived from information provided by paper. 40. Column “CLAY”, %, soil clay content of the plot or average soil clay content of catchment or river basin derived from information provided by paper. 41. Column “SOCC”, %, organic carbon content of soil from the plot or average soil organic carbon content of soils from the catchment or river basin as supplied by paper. Table S1. Erosion variables: Author(s) and year paper was published, temporal scale (Yrs), and selected erosion variables (RC: runoff coefficients; SL: sediment loads and TOCL: total organic carbon losses) at different spatial scales (m: microplot; p: plot; mc: microcatchment; sc: subcatchment and c: catchment) Author(s) & Year Alberts et al. 1978 Alfaro et al. 2008 Amegashie et al. 2011 Andreu et al. 1998 Avnimelech & McHenry. 1984 Barthès et al. 2006 Bellanger et al. 2004 Bernal & Sabater. 2012 Bilgo et al. 2004 Bilgo et al. 2006 Boeglin et al. 2005 Boix-Fayos et al. 2009 Brunet et al. 2006a Brunet et al. 2006b Cerdan et al. 2004 Chaplot & Poesen. 2012 Chaplot et al. 2005 Chaplot et al. 2006 Chaplot et al. 2007 Cogle et al. 2002 Correll et al. 1992 Deasy et al. 2011 Deelstra et al. 2009 Dlamini et al. 2011 Drissa et al. 2004 Esteves & Lapetite. 2003 Feng & Li. 2008 Feyen et al. 1996 Gabrielli et al. 2012 Gachene et al. 1997 Gao et al. 2012 Girmay et al. 2009 Hagedorn et al. 2001 Hammad et al. 2006 Han et al. 2012 Hashim et al. 1995 Holko & Kostka. 2008 Inamdar & Mitchell. 2007 Jacinthe et al. 2004 Juarez et l. 2011 Kaushal & Lewis. 2005 Kronvang et al. 1999 Kuusemets & Mander. 2002 Le Bissonnais et al. 1998 Lewis & Saunders. 1989 Lin & Wang. 2010 Lopez-Tarazon et al. 2010 Lucas et al. 2002 Martinez-Mena et al. 2002 Martinez-Mena et al. 2008 Martinez-Mena et al. 2011 Mayor et al. 2011 McGlynn & McDonnell. 2003 Mchunu et al. 2011 Moreno-de las Heras et al. 2010 Morsli et al. 2006 Moyo. 1998 Munodawafa. 2007 Oakes et al. 2012 Ollesch et al. 2008 Onderka et al. 2012 Orchard et al. 2013 Panagopoulos et al. 2007 Parsons et al. 2006 Penna et al. 2011 Peterjohn & Correll. 1984 Petrone et al. 2006 Phan Ha et al. 2012 Polyakov & Lal. 2008 Puustinen et al. 2007 Quinton et al. 2006 Richardson et al. 2012 Rodriguez-Blanco et al. 2013 Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2004 Roose. 1978 Roose. 1980 Rubio et al. 1997 Rumpel et al. 2006 Sadeghi et al. 2013 Sawa et al. 2011 Seylers et al. 2005a Seylers et al. 2005b Strohmeier et al. 2012 Stutter et al. 2008 Zillgens et al. 2007 ------------------------------- RC% --------------------------m p mc sc c 6.0 42.1 ------------------------SL (g m-2 yr-1) -----------------------m p mc sc c 904.3 ---------------------- TOCL (g m-2 yr-1) -------------------m p mc sc c 6474.2 1.9 794.4 16.0 7.4 17.1 11.5 21.2 470.8 1.7 619.7 0.1 9.8 524.1 400.0 3.2 0.5 12.2 0.6 22.1 19.1 5.2 13.0 0.2 1.7 1.7 5.0 4.9 4.0 0.5 1.2 898.5 76.7 44.9 40.8 17.0 50.0 0.2 0.2 1.8 22.7 274.0 8.0 11.5 11.5 212.5 5.1 170.0 160.1 56.9 54.0 18.3 2.0 1.6 37.8 304.6 6.4 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.9 0.1 5.5 0.1 0.1 7.3 30.7 23.0 10.9 6.0 77.7 774.0 14.7 5.4 17.7 0.9 590.5 0.5 3.2 12.9 28.4 20.8 27.1 0.1 11.4 20.8 19.1 50.5 28.6 36.7 23.0 4.0 4.1 58.0 31.0 9.9 1069.3 18.3 45.0 58.7 1.6 1.9 1.2 2.1 4119.9 27.2 60.6 297.0 1.0 154.7 53.9 94.6 81.8 60.0 70.8 46.1 24.4 9.7 23.9 4.7 50.6 43.1 15.6 0.7 15.6 0.8 58.3 5238.3 35.4 11.9 0.9 12115 17654 4038.2 52.4 12.7 24.6 7.2 1738.0 47.3 222.3 0.3 243.5 0.7 199.2 191.3 12.0 0.1 55.0 37.0 3317 3852.3 3.2 3275 9.7 420.0 670.0 39.3 42.2 440.0 465.0 16.4 130.0 5.0 0.4 32.4 40.4 2.9 0.7 22.0 10.8 6.2 36.4 0.6 0.5 58.4 20.0 226.4 14.0 10.2 14.5 23.0 45.3 4.0 44.6 2.7 15.3 95.3 31.0 44.5 49.3 46.6 64.6 12.2 819.3 143.2 203.6 140.0 2.2 3564.8 14.1 30.8 5.1 1.0 9.2 109.2 38.6 4.6 0.7 123.1 57.7 15.7 25.0 39.3 8.6 46.3 13.4 33.0 11.3 13.4 18.5 30.3 8.2 97.6 0.2 8.3 8.4 0.5 1.1 0.4 8.6 1.6 4.9 Table S2. Environmental factors: Author(s) and year paper was published; number of observations (N); Size of site (L), location (Long: longitude, Lat: latitude and Z: altitude), slope gradient (S), soil cover by vegetation (Cov), climatic conditions (MAP: mean annual precipitation and MAT: mean annual temperature), and soil properties (BD: bulk density; CLAY, SILT, SAND and SOCC: soil organic carbon content) Author(s) & Year N min Alberts et al. 1978 Alfaro et al. 2008 Amegashie et al. 2011 Andreu et al. 1998 Avnimelech & McHenry. 1984 Barthès et al. 2006 Bellanger et al. 2004 Bernal & Sabater. 2012 Bilgo et al. 2004 Bilgo et al. 2006 Boeglin et al. 2005 Boix-Fayos et al. 2009 Brunet et al. 2006a Brunet et al. 2006b Cerdan et al. 2004 Chaplot & Poesen. 2012 Chaplot et al. 2005 Chaplot et al. 2006 Chaplot et al. 2007 Cogle et al. 2002 Correll et al. 1992 Deasy et al. 2011 Deelstra et al. 2009 Dlamini et al. 2011 Drissa et al. 2004 Esteves & Lapetite. 2003 Feng & Li. 2008 Feyen et al. 1996 Gabrielli et al. 2012 Gachene et al. 1997 Gao et al. 2012 Girmay et al. 2009 Hagedorn et al. 2001 Hammad et al. 2006 Han et al. 2012 Hashim et al. 1995 Holko & Kostka. 2008 Inamdar & Mitchell. 2007 Jacinthe et al. 2004 Juarez et l. 2011 Kaushal & Lewis. 2005 Kronvang et al. 1999 Kuusemets & Mander. 2002 Le Bissonnais et al. 1998 Lewis & Saunders. 1989 Lin & Wang. 2010 Lopez-Tarazon et al. 2010 Lucas et al. 2002 Martinez-Mena et al. 2002 Martinez-Mena et al. 2008 Martinez-Mena et al. 2011 Mayor et al. 2011 McGlynn & McDonnell. 2003 Mchunu et al. 2011 Moreno-de las Heras et al. 2010 Morsli et al. 2006 Moyo. 1998 Munodawafa. 2007 Oakes et al. 2012 Ollesch et al. 2008 Onderka et al. 2012 Orchard et al. 2013 Panagopoulos et al. 2007 Parsons et al. 2006 Penna et al. 2011 Peterjohn & Correll. 1984 Petrone et al. 2006 Phan Ha et al. 2012 Polyakov & Lal. 2008 Puustinen et al. 2007 Quinton et al. 2006 Richardson et al. 2012 Rodriguez-Blanco et al. 2013 Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al. 2004 Roose. 1978 Roose. 1980 Rubio et al. 1997 Rumpel et al. 2006 Sadeghi et al. 2013 Sawa et al. 2011 Seylers et al. 2005a Seylers et al. 2005b Strohmeier et al. 2012 Stutter et al. 2008 Zillgens et al. 2007 21 6 5 4 41 3 3 4 4 4 5 7 3 3 3 12 7 3 5 18 4 4 4 5 6 12 7 2 2 2 4 4 4 2 3 5 4 4 5 5 6 1 3 4 1 4 1 7 2 3 2 3 7 2 20 8 1 4 10 3 24 5 1 8 4 1 3 8 3 3 10 12 10 9 1 2 6 6 13 6 3 9 1 6 3 L (m) max 547.7 167.3 591.6 17.9 244.9 15.5 5.5 1870.8 12.6 12.6 24.5 281.4 1.0 1.0 21.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 28.0 247.0 137.8 2121.3 1.0 20.0 1.0 25020 3.2 50.0 591.6 4.5 38.1 2.0 40.0 5.0 4711.7 126.5 74.2 1.0 3598.6 774.6 189.7 1469.7 17.9 16568 15.5 5.5 3240.4 12.7 12.6 136051.5 1212.3 1.0 1.0 3316.6 3162.3 787.4 77.5 1.0 28.0 4781.2 553.2 3768.3 1.0 20.0 332.4 183575.6 38.7 125.0 591.6 4.5 836.7 2.0 1166.2 20.0 33090.8 2638.2 420.7 1.0 3981.2 10653.6 10653.6 131.5 1.0 1142.4 836.7 974679.4 974679.4 640.3 21095 673.1 15.0 8.0 8.0 2.0 7.4 10.0 1.0 8972.2 21095 1913.1 15.0 8.0 8.0 449.4 411.1 10.0 15.0 10.0 1.0 4335.9 685.6 1.0 10.0 5.0 4335.9 26267.9 26267.9 2.0 181.7 403.7 2280.4 1.0 10.0 100.0 35.0 3000.0 51.0 25.0 27.8 26590.2 3162.3 10440.3 403.7 3224.9 5.0 30.0 3924.3 35.0 14282.9 4000.0 25.0 3.3 1.0 2.0 2119.0 8185.4 5.8 787.4 100.0 9077.4 1870828.7 357770.9 2149127.7 2049.4 141.4 264.6 2049.4 42941.8 12247.4 Long Lat ----- degrees ----99.6 -73.2 -1.0 -0.4 -96.8 2.3 -70.3 2.6 -3.8 -3.8 11.4 -2.2 -47.7 -47.7 -3.7 102.2 102.1 102.1 102.1 78.3 -75.6 -2.7 45.1 29.4 8.4 2.6 117.5 8.6 25.6 18.8 105.5 38.8 8.7 -80.6 117.4 101.2 48.7 42.4 -81.8 29.4 -106.0 9.8 25.0 0.8 -66.6 29.8 9.9 -82.9 -1.1 -1.8 -2.2 -0.6 171.8 29.4 40.8 16.3 30.2 30.8 29.4 37.6 6.0 29.4 10.9 -110.2 11.5 38.9 68.0 105.5 -83.0 23.2 -0.6 52.8 -8.9 -15.4 -3.1 -5.2 -0.4 102.2 60.3 37.0 12.5 12.5 11.9 -2.2 12.9 42.1 -40.6 10.3 39.5 35.8 6.4 9.0 41.7 11.8 11.8 4.5 38.1 -15.2 -15.2 48.6 19.9 19.8 19.8 19.8 17.5 38.9 52.0 55.8 28.8 12.1 13.5 40.9 47.3 43.0 5.0 31.3 9.0 47.1 37.7 33.2 5.8 18.0 78.9 40.4 -28.8 39.2 56.3 60.2 49.9 6.4 101.9 42.7 40.4 38.1 38.1 38.1 38.5 42.2 -28.8 0.8 35.5 -20.2 20.1 28.8 55.8 49.7 -28.8 59.5 31.7 46.9 76.6 46.9 21.0 40.0 60.6 52.0 -83.9 42.9 28.1 10.3 8.2 39.0 19.9 36.7 30.5 -6.1 -6.1 50.1 57.2 47.8 Z m 328 520 300 220 645 53 1200 410 360 360 700 1200 1000 1000 136 841 719 550 580 516 17 56 69 1437 400 220 766 1200 110 1100 422 1500 1378 900 24 714 1141 297 400 1385 3725 78 54 63 177 3010 1685 299 800 700 800 697 125 1385 1100 332 1479 1200 1437 142 273 1385 150 1183 2214 39 149 102 673 66 85 5 379 1000 400 219 633 551 700 143 350 1000 786 337 1718 S Cov -------- % -------3.0 6.0 5.0 20.0 29.1 4.0 43.3 1.0 1.0 15.1 3.5 3.5 3.8 35.7 49.7 30.0 45.0 1.9 8.7 2.1 22.2 4.6 47.5 20.0 61.5 17.0 7.0 8.1 20.0 2.5 1.4 17.6 37.5 14.6 15.3 22.2 32.5 10.0 2.0 4.3 1.8 23.0 12.0 11.0 40.0 39.3 3.0 36.4 5.0 4.5 22.4 5.0 83.4 57.2 58.0 83.4 43.3 40.3 8 28.2 78.2 17.7 15.7 14.8 51.7 5.4 15.0 5.9 3.9 11.5 15.4 25.0 1.0 5.0 30.0 100.0 30.0 2.0 3.5 42.0 60 40 MAP mm MAT o C 861 1284 1000 425 799 1150 1600 750 900 804 1700 583 1200 1200 1098 1403 1403 1403 1403 784 963 660 671 684 1076 560 560 2300 2475 1000 826 543 2300 580 840 3000 1014 1006 950 700 432 770 638 800 4500 1940 767 1019 300 300 300 275 2600 684 466 476 500 550 684 560 900 684 810 312 1220 1085 400 960 932 956 621 691 1042 730 800 1725 533 1403 257 668 1550 3000 1150 1350 1400 8 15 29 17 15 27 21 14 29 29 25 13 22 22 12 25 25 25 25 27 14 7 6 13 25 30 4 6 12 23 10 27 6 17 15 28 4 9 10 17 2 13 6 11 27 10 11 10 17 17 17 18 7 13 11 23 26 18 13 -6 9 13 6 18 4 13 12 22 11 5 9 -3 13 15 29 27 21 25 15 6 26 27 5 9 11 BD g m-3 0.57 1.59 1.59 1.00 1.00 1.80 CLAY SAND SILT SOCC --------------------- % --------------------- 5.8 7.1 21.9 14.7 26.0 5.3 5.2 5.2 50.0 15.3 53.4 53.4 12.3 86.2 47.9 1.23 0.93 1.36 1.00 1.17 1.00 1.58 1.58 1.30 1.04 0.90 0.90 7.9 45.9 7.5 21.8 5.4 155.4 4.5 3.4 3.4 15.0 16.5 71.0 52.7 60.0 34.4 71.9 39.0 26.6 14.3 21.3 34.0 18.0 23.0 11.0 58.1 28.9 26.3 13.4 59.3 24.2 47.8 53.5 48.1 30.0 16.1 11.4 14.7 60.0 35.7 35.1 36.0 10.0 22.0 22.6 22.2 8.6 35.9 20.2 30.0 40.4 20.8 80.0 23.8 58.9 2.4 10.3 0.5 0.5 1.00 45.0 32.5 22.5 16.7 1.31 33.7 46.2 23.1 36.5 8.2 19.9 29.8 44.8 57.1 18.5 20.0 45.0 60.0 37.0 23.8 30.6 60.0 0.0 1.5 1.11 1.1 20.0 1.36 1.00 20.0 18.0 15.0 1.59 0.63 1.00 35.0 25.5 25.5 22.0 32.7 32.6 43.0 41.9 41.9 35.5 8.8 18.2 18.0 35.7 33.4 5.0 5.0 36.0 45.0 35.4 24.9 90.0 37.0 28.9 41.4 5.0 13.0 1.29 1.39 16.0 21.5 70.3 40.8 13.7 37.8 13.0 0.92 1.30 45.0 30.0 30.0 25.0 29.1 107.4 1.00 10.0 75.0 15.0 11.0 22.3 5.0 15.0 14.1 48.2 6.3 90.0 70.0 53.3 16.2 71.4 5.0 15.0 32.2 35.6 50.0 50.0 39.0 39.0 11.0 11.0 0.80 1.17 1.40 1.37 1.00 1.50 0.50 1.00 1.00 1.16 1.16 10.7 5.0 7.5 134.5 4.3 9.2 16.3 16.3