Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Storage in Natural and Prop-Scarred Thalassia Testudinum Seagrass Meadows

Arney, Rachel N.; Shepherd, Alison; Alexander, Heather D.; Rahman, Abdullah F.

doi:10.1007/s12237-020-00765-6

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…A decline of seagrass will lead to a loss of important ecosystem services provided by the habitat (Atwood et al 2015), for example, climate regulation through CO 2 sequestration, sediment retention, and coastal protection (Barbier et al 2011; Fourqurean et al 2012; Potouroglou et al 2017). The causes to seagrass degradation have primarily been attributed to eutrophication, sedimentation (Orth et al 2006; Björk et al 2008), or mechanical impacts (Lefcheck et al 2017; Arney et al 2021). But also overgrazing by herbivores, as a result of overexploitation of predators, has been shown to be a major threat to, in particular, subtropical and tropical seagrass meadows (Eklöf et al 2008 a ; Heithaus et al 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of seagrass overgrazing on sediment erosion and carbon sink capacity: Current understanding and future priorities

Dahl

Björk

Gullström

2021

Limnol Oceanogr Letters

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Impacts causing seagrass habitat decline are negatively affecting the blue carbon sink function and coastal protection capacity of the ecosystem. Overgrazing (as an indirect effect of fishing and overexploitation of predators) can lead to large areas of seagrass loss and when searching the scientific literature, we found that in most studies this resulted in sediment destabilization and/or carbon storage erosion. We also highlight that there is a clear lack of knowledge regarding the link between sediment stabilization mechanisms and carbon erosion (or resuspension) processes, and uncertainty in greenhouse gas emission rates following seagrass loss.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of seagrass overgrazing on sediment erosion and carbon sink capacity: Current understanding and future priorities

Dahl

Björk

Gullström

2021

Limnol Oceanogr Letters

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“…For instance, in the United States mid‐Atlantic coast, sediment N in the surface 6 cm has been shown to range between ∼0.2 and ∼0.5 mg N cm −3 in temperate Z. marina meadows and varying depending on the age of the meadow (Aoki et al., 2020). Additionally, within the first 1 m depth, surface sediment was found to contain 6.65 ± 0.26 Mg N ha −1 (N levels in our study equals 13% of this stock despite only sampling 5 cm depth) in Thalassia testudinum seagrass meadows in the southern Atlantic coast of the United States (Arney et al., 2021) and between 7 and 11 Mg N ha −1 in Z. noltei in the southern coast of Portugal (N levels in our study equals 8%–12% of this stock within 20% of the depth; Martins et al., 2022). However, N levels exceeding those recorded in the current study have also been observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

The Role of Boreal Seagrass Meadows in the Coastal Filter

Prystay,

Sipler,

Foroutani

et al. 2023

JGR Biogeosciences

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By removing nutrients from the water, coastal ecosystems serve as a filter between land and the open sea. Seagrasses contribute to the coastal filter by trapping and absorbing nutrients. Understanding the processes and environmental conditions underpinning the variability in nutrient retention among and within seagrass meadows is important to evaluate their role in the coastal filter across geographic regions, especially in less studied regions. This study evaluates the role of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the coastal filter in boreal Newfoundland, Canada, and identifies environmental traits driving variability in nutrient fluxes. We measured carbon (Corg) and nitrogen (N) proportions and stable isotopic composition in the surface sediment (top 5 cm) of three eelgrass meadows. Sediment cores were collected from different locations (i.e., inside, edge, outside) relative to each meadow. Sediment %N (0.22%), %Corg (2.82%), Corg stock (11.1 Mg Corg ha−1), and N stock (0.91 Mg N ha−1) were elevated in our study sites; however, nutrient content was not consistently higher inside the meadow than at the edge or outside. Variability in nutrient retention was best explained by a negative relationship with sediment bulk density. Additionally, differences in carbon isotopic (δ13Corg) enrichment between eelgrass tissue (−11.6‰) and sediment (−22.1‰) within sites indicated that sediment nutrients were predominantly derived from allochthonous marine sources, where variability was best explained by salinity. This study improves the understanding of the role of eelgrass to nutrient cycles in boreal coastal systems and the potential of eelgrass as a blue carbon ecosystem.

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