Habitat characteristics provide insights of carbon storage in seagrass meadows

Mazarrasa, Inés; Samper‐Villarreal, Jimena; Serrano, Óscar; Lavery, Paul S.; Lovelock, Catherine E.; Marbà, Núria; Duarte, Carlos M.; Cortés, Jorge

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.01.059

Cited by 139 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 146 publications

(262 reference statements)

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“…Many habitat characteristics have been shown to influence the carbon content of seagrass meadow sediments, including seagrass species composition, canopy complexity, hydrodynamic regime, water depth, nutrient availability, and biotic interactions (Mazarrasa et al, ). Here we observed notable variability in sediment carbon content (percentage and stocks) as well as carbon sequestration rates both among and within regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Synthesis of Blue Carbon Stocks, Sources, and Accumulation Rates in Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Meadows in the Northeast Pacific

Prentice

Poppe

Lutz

et al. 2020

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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There is increasing urgency to implement climate change mitigation strategies that enhance greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Recently, coastal “blue carbon” habitats⁠—mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows—have received attention for their ability to capture CO2 and store organic carbon (OC), primarily in their sediments. Across habitat types and regions, however, information about the sequestration rates and sources of carbon to local sediments remains sparse. Here we compiled recently obtained estimates of sediment OC stocks and sequestration rates from 139 cores collected from temperate seagrass (Zostera marina) meadows in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Across all cores sediment OC content averaged 0.75%. Organic carbon stocks in the top 25 cm and 1 m of the sediment averaged 1,846 and 7,168 g OC m−2, respectively. Carbon sequestration rates ranged from 4.6 to 93.0 g OC m−2 yr−1 and averaged 24.8 g OC m−2 yr−1. Isotopic data from this region suggest that OC in the sediments is largely from noneelgrass sources. In general, these values are comparable to those from other temperate Z. marina meadows, but significantly lower than previously reported values for seagrasses globally. These results further highlight the need for local and species‐level quantification of blue carbon parameters. While temperate eelgrass meadows may not sequester and store as much carbon as seagrass meadows elsewhere, climate policy incentives should still be implemented to protect existing sediment carbon stocks and the other critical ecosystem services associated with eelgrass habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Synthesis of Blue Carbon Stocks, Sources, and Accumulation Rates in Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Meadows in the Northeast Pacific

Prentice

Poppe

Lutz

et al. 2020

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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“…The climate and geomorphology of water bodies along the coasts of each country region have resulted in hydrological differences related to fresh water inputs, hydroperiods, tidal ranges, hydrodynamics, and nutrient supplies and the presence of stressors that could influence the stocks and flux (import/export rates) of C org in mangroves and seagrasses (Woodroffe, 1992;Twilley & Rivera-Monroy, 2005;Fourqurean et al, 2012a;Mazarrasa et al, 2018). Figure 6 Seagrasses's C org stocks by geographic regions of Mexico.…”

Section: Mexico's Blue Carbon In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blue carbon of Mexico, carbon stocks and fluxes: a systematic review

Herrera-Silveira

Pech-Cardenas

Morales-Ojeda

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Mexico has more than 750,000 ha of mangroves and more than 400,000 ha of seagrasses. However, approximately 200,000 ha of mangroves and an unknown area of seagrass have been lost due to coastal development associated with urban, industrial and tourist purposes. In 2018, the approved reforms to the General Law on Climate Change (LGCC) aligned the Mexican law with the international objectives established in the 2nd Article of the Paris Agreement. This action proves Mexico’s commitment to contributing to the global target of stabilizing the greenhouse gas emissions concentration in the planet. Thus, restoring and conserving mangrove and seagrass habitats could contribute to fulfilling this commitment. Therefore, as a first step in establishing a mitigation and adaptation plan against climate change with respect to conservation and restoration actions of these ecosystems, we evaluated Mexican blue carbon ecosystems through a systematic review of the carbon stock using the standardized method of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We used the data from 126 eligible studies for both ecosystems (n = 1220). The results indicated that information is missing at the regional level. However, the average above and below ground organic carbon stocks from mangroves in Mexico is 113.6 ± 5.5 (95% CI [99.3–118.4]) Mg Corg ha−1 and 385.1 ± 22 (95% CI [344.5–431.9]) Mg Corg ha−1, respectively. The variability in the Corg stocks for both blue carbon ecosystems in Mexico is related to variations in climate, hydrology and geomorphology observed along the country’s coasts in addition to the size and number of plots evaluated with respect to the spatial cover. The highest values for mangroves were related to humid climate conditions, although in the case of seagrasses, they were related to low levels of hydrodynamic stress. Based on the official extent of mangrove and seagrass area in Mexico, we estimate a total carbon stock of 237.7 Tg Corg from mangroves and 48.1 Tg Corg from seagrasses. However, mangroves and seagrasses are still being lost due to land use change despite Mexican laws meant to incorporate environmental compensation. Such losses are largely due to loopholes in the legal framework that dilute the laws’ effectiveness and thus ability to protect the ecosystem. The estimated emissions from land use change under a conservative approach in mangroves of Mexico were approximately 24 Tg CO2e in the last 20 years. Therefore, the incorporation of blue carbon into the carbon market as a viable source of supplemental finance for mangrove and seagrass protection is an attractive win-win opportunity.

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“…Several studies have investigated the drivers behind Blue Carbon storage, and it has been shown that they consist of a complex set of physical, chemical, and biological factors that vary considerably between and within systems and are highly dependent on which functional scale is assessed (e.g., spatial, temporal, species, community, ecosystem) (see e.g., Ricart et al, 2015;Röhr et al, 2016;Samper-Villarreal et al, 2016;Belshe et al, 2017a,b;Dahl, 2017;Oreska et al, 2017a;Mazarrasa et al, 2018;Röhr et al, 2018). Sediment properties such as grain size, porosity, degree of sorting, and density are largely controlled by the hydrodynamic regime where, for instance, grain size typically increases with increasing wave-and current exposure, as the higher hydrodynamic energy and short residence times do not allow finer grains to settle (Folk and Ward, 1957;Fonseca and Bell, 1998;van Keulen and Borowitzka, 2003;Mazarrasa et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, sediment grain size is a strong predictor of sediment OM pools and seagrass sediments exhibit increases in both the amount of carbon stored Röhr et al, 2016;Samper−Villarreal et al, 2016;Miyajima et al, 2017) and carbon burial rates (Mazarrasa et al, 2017) with increasing silt-clay content. This correlation may be due to the larger surface area for adsorbing organic molecules at high silt-clay content (Keil et al, 1994;Bergamaschi et al, 1997), and low oxygen availability reducing the remineralization of OM (Dauwe et al, 2001;Serrano et al, 2016), as well as the relatively higher sedimentation of sestonic particles in these low-energy environments (Mazarrasa et al, 2017(Mazarrasa et al, , 2018. However, plant traits such as shoot density, above-and belowground biomass, and net primary productivity also explain a large part of the variability in carbon stock and sink capacity in local areas Gillis et al, 2017;Oreska et al, 2017a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment Stocks of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Danish Eelgrass Meadows

et al. 2018

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Seagrass ecosystems provide an array of ecosystem services ranging from habitat provision to erosion control. From a climate change and eutrophication mitigation perspective, the ecosystem services include burial and storage of carbon and nutrients in the sediments. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the most abundant seagrass species along the Danish coasts, and while its function as a carbon and nutrient sink has been documented in some areas, the spatial variability of these functions, and the drivers behind them, are not well understood. Here we present the first nationwide study on eelgrass sediment stock of carbon (C stock ), nitrogen (N stock ), and phosphorus (P stock ). Stocks were measured in the top 10 cm of eelgrass meadows spanning semi-enclosed estuaries (inner and outer fjords) to open coasts. Further, we assessed environmental factors (level of exposure, sediment properties, level of eutrophication) from each area to evaluate their relative importance as drivers of the spatial pattern in the respective stocks. We found large spatial variability in sediment stocks, representing 155-4413 g C m −2 , 24-448 g N m −2 , and 7-34 g P m −2 . C stock and N stock were significantly higher in inner fjords compared to outer fjords and open coasts. C stock , N stock , and P stock showed a significantly positive relationship with the silt-clay content in the sediments. Moreover, C stock was also significantly higher in more eutrophied areas with high concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll a (chl a) in the water column. Conversely, siltclay content was not related to nutrients or chl a, suggesting a spatial dependence of the importance of these factors in driving stock sizes and implying that local differences in sediment properties and eutrophication level should be included when evaluating the storage capacity of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in Danish eelgrass meadows. These insights provide guidance to managers in selecting priority areas for carbon and nutrient storage for climate-and eutrophication mitigation initiatives.

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Habitat characteristics provide insights of carbon storage in seagrass meadows

Cited by 139 publications

References 146 publications

A Synthesis of Blue Carbon Stocks, Sources, and Accumulation Rates in Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Meadows in the Northeast Pacific

A Synthesis of Blue Carbon Stocks, Sources, and Accumulation Rates in Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Meadows in the Northeast Pacific

Blue carbon of Mexico, carbon stocks and fluxes: a systematic review

Sediment Stocks of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Danish Eelgrass Meadows

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