TY - JOUR
T1 - Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock
AU - Fourqurean, James W.
AU - Duarte, Carlos M.
AU - Kennedy, Hilary
AU - Marbà, Núria
AU - Holmer, Marianne
AU - Mateo, Miguel Angel
AU - Apostolaki, Eugenia T.
AU - Kendrick, Gary A.
AU - Krause-Jensen, Dorte
AU - McGlathery, Karen J.
AU - Serrano, Oscar
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - The protection of organic carbon stored in forests is considered as an important method for mitigating climate change. Like terrestrial ecosystems, coastal ecosystems store large amounts of carbon, and there are initiatives to protect these 'blue carbon' stores. Organic carbon stocks in tidal salt marshes and mangroves have been estimated, but uncertainties in the stores of seagrass meadows-some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth-hinder the application of marine carbon conservation schemes. Here, we compile published and unpublished measurements of the organic carbon content of living seagrass biomass and underlying soils in 946 distinct seagrass meadows across the globe. Using only data from sites for which full inventories exist, we estimate that, globally, seagrass ecosystems could store as much as 19.9 Pg organic carbon; according to a more conservative approach, in which we incorporate more data from surface soils and depth-dependent declines in soil carbon stocks, we estimate that the seagrass carbon pool lies between 4.2 and 8.4 Pg carbon. We estimate that present rates of seagrass loss could result in the release of up to 299 Tg carbon per year, assuming that all of the organic carbon in seagrass biomass and the top metre of soils is remineralized.
AB - The protection of organic carbon stored in forests is considered as an important method for mitigating climate change. Like terrestrial ecosystems, coastal ecosystems store large amounts of carbon, and there are initiatives to protect these 'blue carbon' stores. Organic carbon stocks in tidal salt marshes and mangroves have been estimated, but uncertainties in the stores of seagrass meadows-some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth-hinder the application of marine carbon conservation schemes. Here, we compile published and unpublished measurements of the organic carbon content of living seagrass biomass and underlying soils in 946 distinct seagrass meadows across the globe. Using only data from sites for which full inventories exist, we estimate that, globally, seagrass ecosystems could store as much as 19.9 Pg organic carbon; according to a more conservative approach, in which we incorporate more data from surface soils and depth-dependent declines in soil carbon stocks, we estimate that the seagrass carbon pool lies between 4.2 and 8.4 Pg carbon. We estimate that present rates of seagrass loss could result in the release of up to 299 Tg carbon per year, assuming that all of the organic carbon in seagrass biomass and the top metre of soils is remineralized.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84863331735&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ngeo1477
DO - 10.1038/ngeo1477
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84863331735
SN - 1752-0894
VL - 5
SP - 505
EP - 509
JO - Nature Geoscience
JF - Nature Geoscience
IS - 7
ER -