The present study showed the relevance of transport processes on
CO2 losses as a result of water erosion. Although the deep burial of sediment
in the deposition areas is considered by many authors as a C sink
of CO2, the loss of C during the transport phase should be taking into account
when considering the global C budget because of the relevant increase
of SOC decomposition during sediment transport. Improvement
of our knowledge about the carbon sink/source in the process of soil
erosion and subsequent sediment transport and deposition requires
comprehensive research of all relevant processes at broad spatiotemporal
scales. We need to consider processes from hillslope to catchment,
to landscape to global scales and covering the present up to the
late Holocene. For this an eco-geomorphologic approach can be key,
encompassing biological, pedogenic and geomorphologic processes integrated
over three landscape domains: eroding sites, the transport pathway along hillslopes and depositional sites, to link sediment, lateral
and vertical carbon fluxes.