Major role of marine vegetation on the oceanic carbon cycle
TLDR
In this paper, a bottom-up approach derived from upscaling a compilation of published individual estimates of carbon burial in vegetated habitats (seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests) to the global level and a top-down approach derived derived from considerations of global sediment balance and the organic carbon content of vegeatated sediments was evaluated.Abstract:
. The carbon burial in vegetated sediments, ignored in past assessments of carbon burial in the ocean, was evaluated using a bottom-up approach derived from upscaling a compilation of published individual estimates of carbon burial in vegetated habitats (seagrass meadows, salt marshes and mangrove forests) to the global level and a top-down approach derived from considerations of global sediment balance and a compilation of the organic carbon content of vegeatated sediments. Up-scaling of individual burial estimates values yielded a total carbon burial in vegetated habitats of 111 Tmol C y-1. The total burial in unvegetated sediments was estimated to be 126 Tg C y-1, resulting in a bottom-up estimate of total burial in the ocean of about 244 Tg C y-1, two-fold higher than estimates of oceanic carbon burial that presently enter global carbon budgets. The organic carbon concentrations in vegetated marine sediments exceeds by 2 to 10-fold those in shelf/deltaic sediments. Top-down recalculation of ocean sediment budgets to account for these, previously neglected, organic-rich sediments, yields a top-down carbon burial estimate of 216 Tg C y-1, with vegetated coastal habitats contributing about 50%. Even though vegetated carbon burial contributes about half of the total carbon burial in the ocean, burial represents a small fraction of the net production of these ecosystems, estimated at about 3388 Tg C y-1, suggesting that bulk of the benthic net ecosystem production must support excess respiration in other compartments, such as unvegetated sediments and the coastal pelagic compartment. The total excess organic carbon available to be exported to the ocean is estimated at between 1126 to 3534 Tg C y-1, the bulk of which must be respired in the open ocean. Widespread loss of vegetated coastal habitats must have reduced carbon burial in the ocean by about 30 Tg C y-1, identifying the destruction of these ecosystems as an important loss of CO2 sink capacity in the biosphere.read more
Citations
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The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services
Edward B. Barbier,Sally D. Hacker,Chris J. Kennedy,Evamaria W. Koch,Adrian C. Stier,Brian R. Silliman +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the main ecological services across a variety of estuarine and coastal ecosystems (ECEs) including marshes, mangroves, nearshore coral reefs, seagrass beds, and sand beaches and dunes are reviewed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plumbing the Global Carbon Cycle: Integrating Inland Waters into the Terrestrial Carbon Budget
Jonathan J. Cole,Yves T. Prairie,Nina F. Caraco,William H. McDowell,Lars J. Tranvik,Robert G. Striegl,Carlos M. Duarte,Pirkko Kortelainen,John A. Downing,Jack J. Middelburg,John M. Melack +10 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of inland water ecosystems in the global carbon cycle has been investigated and it is shown that roughly twice as much C enters inland aquatic systems from land as is exported from land to the sea, roughly equally as inorganic and organic carbon.
Journal ArticleDOI
Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal ecosystems
Michelle Waycott,Carlos M. Duarte,Tim J. B. Carruthers,Robert J. Orth,William C. Dennison,Suzanne V. Olyarnik,Ainsley Calladine,James W. Fourqurean,Kenneth L. Heck,A. Randall Hughes,Gary A. Kendrick,W. Judson Kenworthy,Frederick T. Short,Susan L. Williams +13 more
TL;DR: This comprehensive global assessment of 215 studies found that seagrasses have been disappearing at a rate of 110 km2 yr−1 since 1980 and that 29% of the known areal extent has disappeared since seagRass areas were initially recorded in 1879.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Global Crisis for Seagrass Ecosystems
Robert J. Orth,Tim J. B. Carruthers,William C. Dennison,Carlos M. Duarte,James W. Fourqurean,Kenneth L. Heck,A. Randall Hughes,Gary A. Kendrick,W. Judson Kenworthy,Suzanne V. Olyarnik,Frederick T. Short,Michelle Waycott,Susan L. Williams +12 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a targeted global conservation effort that includes a reduction of watershed nutrient and sediment inputs to seagrass habitats and a targeted educational program informing regulators and the public of the value of meadows.
Journal ArticleDOI
A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2
Elizabeth Mcleod,Gail L. Chmura,Steven Bouillon,Rodney Salm,Mats Björk,Carlos M. Duarte,Carlos M. Duarte,Catherine E. Lovelock,William H. Schlesinger,Brian R. Silliman +9 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify key areas of uncertainty and specific actions needed to address them and identify the value of mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and salt marshes in sequestering carbon dioxide.
References
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