Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock

Fourqurean, James W.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Kennedy, Hilary; Marbà, Núria; Holmer, Marianne; Mateo, Miguel Ángel; Apostolaki, Eugenia T.; Kendrick, Gary A.; Krause‐Jensen, Dorte; McGlathery, Karen J.; Serrano, Óscar

doi:10.1038/ngeo1477

Cited by 1,577 publications

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References 33 publications

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“…decompressed (202 6 79 Mg C org ha 21 and 167 6 65 Mg C org ha 21 , respectively, Supporting Information Table SI 4) are around half those reported in previous studies (372 6 75 Mg C org ha 21 , Fourqurean et al 2012) whereas burial rates (9-52 g C org m 22 yr 21 ) rank among the lowest values reported for other P. oceanica meadows studied in the past (6-175 g C org m 22 yr 21 , Mateo et al 1997). These results suggest that data hitherto available may have been biased toward meadows supporting very high carbon stocks and burial rates, as sampling was largely directed to P. oceanica reefs (e.g., Mateo et al 1997;Serrano et al 2012) that are impressive structures that can reach several meters high (Lo Iacono et al 2008) but may not be representative of the whole spectrum of existing P. oceanica meadows.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…The endemic Mediterranean seagrass, Posidonia oceanica, stands out as the species supporting the highest carbon burial rates (Duarte et al 2005;Lavery et al 2013) and the largest sediment organic carbon stocks (Fourqurean et al 2012;Lavery et al 2013) among all seagrass studied thus far.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Seagrass meadows rank among the most intense natural carbon sinks of the biosphere (Nellemann et al 2009;Fourqurean et al 2012;Duarte et al 2013a). Due to their high carbon sink capacity and their broad distribution along the coastal areas of all continents, except the Antarctica (Hemminga and Duarte 2000), seagrass meadows contribute about 50-64% of the organic carbon (C org ) sequestered annually by coastal vegetated ecosystems (Duarte et al 2013b) and bury 20% of the carbon buried in the global ocean (Duarte et al 2005;Kennedy et al 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Effect of environmental factors (wave exposure and depth) and anthropogenic pressure in the C sink capacity of Posidonia oceanica meadows

Mazarrasa

Marbà

García-Orellana

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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Seagrass are among the most important natural carbon sinks on Earth with Posidonia oceanica (Mediterranean Sea) considered as the most relevant species. Yet, the number of direct measurements of organic carbon burial rates in P. oceanica is still scarce and the effect of local environmental factors remains largely unexplored. In addition, P. oceanica meadows are declining due to the increase in anthropogenic pressure in coastal areas during the last century. The aim of this study is to assess the recent carbon sink capacity of P. oceanica and particularly the effect of human pressure and two environmental factors, water depth and exposure to wave energy (based on a fetch index), on the carbon burial rate since 1900. We conducted an extensive survey of sediment cores in meadows distributed across a gradient of depth, fetch, and human pressure around The Balearic Islands. Sediment and carbon accumulation rates were obtained from 210 Pb concentrations profiles. Top-30 centimeters carbon stocks (6.1 6 1.4 kg C m 22 ) and burial rates (26 6 6 g C m 22 yr 1 ) varied up to fivefold across meadows. No significant effect of water depth in carbon burial rates was observed. Although fetch was significantly correlated with sediment mean grain size, confirming the effect of wave exposure in the patterns of sedimentation, fetch alone could not explain the differences in carbon burial rates among the meadows examined. Human pressure affected carbon burial rates, leading to increased rates since the onset of the rise in anthropogenic pressure, particularly so in sheltered meadows supporting high human pressure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Effect of environmental factors (wave exposure and depth) and anthropogenic pressure in the C sink capacity of Posidonia oceanica meadows

Mazarrasa

Marbà

García-Orellana

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Th ese extensive intertidal, subtidal and deepwater habitats in the tropics are important for their ecological functions and ecosystem services, such as their role in food web dynamics, seascape interactions and biogeochemical processes (Duarte 2002;Moberg and Ronnback 2003). While the economic value of seagrasses for cycling nutrients has been long established (Costanza et al 1997), there is now increasing recognition of how seagrass meadows store and sequester globally significant amounts of carbon (Fourqurean et al 2012;Lavery et al 2013) and buff er seawater acidity (Unsworth et al 2012;Hendriks et al 2013). Seagrass meadows and their fauna also directly and indirectly provide food security and livelihoods globally (Jackson et al 2001;.…”

Section: Environmental and Societal Functions Of Marine Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

Clifton¹,

Cullen-Unsworth²,

Unsworth³

2014

Environment and Society

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Ⅲ ABSTRACT: Th e fl ow of ecosystem services from coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests sustains the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. Faced with the global degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, policy makers are increasingly focusing on ecosystem service valuation techniques to encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Here we provide a review and synthesis of the available information on economic valuation techniques as applied to tropical marine habitats. Our study demonstrates the high variability and lack of consistency in outcomes from these studies. We conclude that, if the concept of ecosystem goods and services is to make a positive contribution towards managing the impacts of humans on the environment, then economic valuation approaches must refl ect the inherent limitations of economic theory whilst emphasizing the complexity and heterogeneity of the natural environment and human decision making.

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“…Others have emphasized that the "value" also reaches well beyond SAV communities themselves (Duarte 2000;Stevenson, Kearney, and Koch 2002;Jones 2014). More recently, an additional service of seagrass meadows has emerged with respect to the capture and long-term storage of "blue carbon" (Irving, Connell, and Russell 2011;Fourqurean et al 2012;Greiner et al 2013). Globally, underwater meadows can sequester approximately 10% of oceanic organic carbon, an estimated 27.4 Tg carbon yr −1 in the form of anaerobic, organic-rich loams (Duarte et al 2010;Fourqurean et al 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Twenty-first century climate change and submerged aquatic vegetation in a temperate estuary: the case of Chesapeake Bay

Arnold

Zimmerman

Engelhardt

et al. 2017

Ecosyst Health Sustain

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Introduction: The Chesapeake Bay was once renowned for expansive meadows of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). However, only 10% of the original meadows survive. Future restoration efforts will be complicated by accelerating climate change, including physiological stressors such as a predicted mean temperature increase of 2-6°C and a 50-160% increase in CO 2 concentrations. Outcomes: As the Chesapeake Bay begins to exhibit characteristics of a subtropical estuary, summer heat waves will become more frequent and severe. Warming alone would eventually eliminate eelgrass (Zostera marina) from the region. It will favor native heat-tolerant species such as widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) while facilitating colonization by non-native seagrasses (e.g., Halodule spp.). Intensifying human activity will also fuel coastal zone acidification and the resulting high CO 2 /low pH conditions may benefit SAV via a "CO 2 fertilization effect." Discussion: Acidification is known to offset the effects of thermal stress and may have similar effects in estuaries, assuming water clarity is sufficient to support CO 2 -stimulated photosynthesis and plants are not overgrown by epiphytes. However, coastal zone acidification is variable, driven mostly by local biological processes that may or may not always counterbalance the effects of regional warming. This precarious equipoise between two forcesthermal stress and acidification -will be critically important because it may ultimately determine the fate of cool-water plants such as Zostera marina in the Chesapeake Bay. Conclusion: The combined impacts of warming, coastal zone acidification, water clarity, and overgrowth of competing algae will determine the fate of SAV communities in rapidly changing temperate estuaries.

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Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock

Cited by 1,577 publications

References 33 publications

Effect of environmental factors (wave exposure and depth) and anthropogenic pressure in the C sink capacity of Posidonia oceanica meadows

Effect of environmental factors (wave exposure and depth) and anthropogenic pressure in the C sink capacity of Posidonia oceanica meadows

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

Twenty-first century climate change and submerged aquatic vegetation in a temperate estuary: the case of Chesapeake Bay

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