scholarly journals Controls on Sediment Accretion and Blue Carbon Burial in Tidal Saline Wetlands: Insights From the Oregon Coast, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin K. Peck ◽  
Robert A. Wheatcroft ◽  
Laura S. Brophy
Keyword(s):  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Sediment Accretion ◽  
Oregon Coast ◽  
Saline Wetlands ◽  
Carbon Burial

scholarly journals Relevance of carbon burial and storage in two contrasting blue carbon ecosystems of a north-east Pacific coastal lagoon

2019 ◽  
Vol 675 ◽  
pp. 581-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasa Cuellar-Martinez ◽  
Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernández ◽  
Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza ◽  
Libia-Hascibe Pérez-Bernal ◽  
Jose Sandoval-Gil
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Lagoon ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
North East ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
And Storage

scholarly journals Methane emissions partially offset “blue carbon” burial in mangroves

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. eaao4985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Rosentreter ◽  
Damien T. Maher ◽  
Dirk V. Erler ◽  
Rachel H. Murray ◽  
Bradley D. Eyre
Keyword(s):  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Carbon Burial

scholarly journals Sequestration of macroalgal carbon: the elephant in the Blue Carbon room

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 20180236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorte Krause-Jensen ◽  
Paul Lavery ◽  
Oscar Serrano ◽  
Núria Marbà ◽  
Pere Masque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Coastal Habitats ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Carbon Burial

Macroalgae form the most extensive and productive benthic marine vegetated habitats globally but their inclusion in Blue Carbon (BC) strategies remains controversial. We review the arguments offered to reject or include macroalgae in the BC framework, and identify the challenges that have precluded macroalgae from being incorporated so far. Evidence that macroalgae support significant carbon burial is compelling. The carbon they supply to sediment stocks in angiosperm BC habitats is already included in current assessments, so that macroalgae are de facto recognized as important donors of BC. The key challenges are (i) documenting macroalgal carbon sequestered beyond BC habitat, (ii) tracing it back to source habitats, and (iii) showing that management actions at the habitat lead to increased sequestration at the sink site. These challenges apply equally to carbon exported from BC coastal habitats. Because of the large carbon sink they support, incorporation of macroalgae into BC accounting and actions is an imperative. This requires a paradigm shift in accounting procedures as well as developing methods to enable the capacity to trace carbon from donor to sink habitats in the ocean.

scholarly journals Blue Carbon Soil Stock Development and Estimates Within Northern Florida Wetlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick R. Vaughn ◽  
Thomas S. Bianchi ◽  
Michael R. Shields ◽  
William F. Kenney ◽  
Todd Z. Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Carbon Stock ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Stable Isotopic ◽  
Ipcc Guidelines ◽  
Different Depths

Blue carbon habitats, such as mangroves and salt marshes, have been recognized as carbon burial hotspots; however, methods on measuring blue carbon stocks have varied and thus leave uncertainty in global blue carbon stock estimates. This study analyzes blue carbon stocks in northern Florida wetlands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Carbon measurements within 1–3m length vibracores yield total core stocks of 9.9–21.5 kgC·m−2 and 7.7–10.9 kgC·m−2 for the Atlantic and Gulf coast cores, respectively. Following recent IPCC guidelines, blue carbon stock estimates in the top meter are 7.0 kgC·m−2–8.0 kgC·m−2 and 6.1 kgC·m−2–8.6 kgC·m−2 for the Atlantic and Gulf cores, respectively. Changes in stable isotopic (δ13C, C/N) and lignin biomarker (C/V) indices suggest both coastlines experienced salt marsh and mangrove transgressions into non-blue carbon habitats during the mid- to late-Holocene following relative sea-level rise. These transgressions impact carbon storage within the cores as the presence of carbon-poor soils, characteristic of non-blue carbon habitats, result in lower 1m carbon stocks in north Florida Gulf wetlands, and a deeper extent of carbon-rich soils, characteristic of blue carbon habitats, drive higher 1m and total carbon stocks in north Florida Atlantic wetlands. Future blue carbon research should assess carbon stocks down to bedrock when possible, as land-cover and/or climate change can impact different depths across localities. Ignoring carbon-rich soil below the top meter of soil may underestimate potential carbon emissions based on these changes.

scholarly journals Factors influencing organic carbon accumulation in mangrove ecosystems

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 20180237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Pérez ◽  
Bruno G. Libardoni ◽  
Christian J. Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Sediment Accretion ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Sedimentary Environments ◽  
Mangrove Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Accumulation Rates

There is growing interest in the capacity of mangrove ecosystems to sequester and store ‘blue carbon’. Here, we provide a synthesis of 66 dated sediment cores with previously calculated carbon accumulation rates in mangrove ecosystems to assess the effects of environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Conserved sedimentary environments were found to be within the range of the current global average for sediment accretion (approx. 2.5 mm yr –1 ) and carbon accumulation (approx. 160 g m −2 yr −1 ). Moreover, similar sediment accretion and carbon accumulation rates were found between mixed and monotypic mangrove forests, however higher mean and median values were noted from within the forest as compared to adjacent areas such as mudflats. The carbon accumulation within conserved environments was up to fourfold higher than in degraded or deforested environments but threefold lower than those impacted by domestic or aquaculture effluents (more than 900 g m −2 yr −1 ) and twofold lower than those impacted by storms and flooding (more than 500 g m −2 yr −1 ). These results suggest that depending on the type of impact, the blue carbon accumulation capacity of mangrove ecosystems may become substantially modified.

scholarly journals Calcification-driven CO2 emissions exceed “Blue Carbon” sequestration in a carbonate seagrass meadow

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryce Van Dam ◽  
Mary Zeller ◽  
Christian Lopes ◽  
Ashley Smyth ◽  
Michael Böttcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Seagrass Meadow ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Carbonate Sediments ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial

Abstract Long-term “blue carbon” burial in seagrass meadows is complicated by other carbon and alkalinity exchanges that shape net carbon sequestration. We measured a suite of such processes, including denitrification, sulfur, and inorganic carbon cycling, and assessed their impact on air-water carbon dioxide exchange in a typical seagrass meadow underlain by carbonate sediments. Contrary to the prevailing concept of seagrass meadows acting as carbon sinks, eddy covariance measurements reveal this ecosystem as a consistent source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, at an average rate of 610 ± 990 µmol m-2 hr-1 during our study and 700 ± 660 µmol m-2 hr-1 over an annual cycle. A robust mass-balance shows that net alkalinity consumption by ecosystem calcification explains >95% of the observed carbon dioxide emissions, far exceeding alkalinity generated by net reduced sulfur, iron and organic carbon burial. Isotope geochemistry of porewaters suggests substantial dissolution and re-crystallization of more stable carbonates mediated by sulfide oxidation-induced acidification, enhancing long-term carbonate burial and ultimate carbon dioxide production. We show that the “blue carbon” sequestration potential of calcifying seagrass meadows has been over-estimated, and that in-situ organic carbon burial only offsets a small fraction (<5%) of calcification-induced CO2 emissions. Ocean-based climate change mitigation activities in such calcifying regions should be approached with caution and an understanding that net carbon sequestration may not be possible.

Testing ecological release as a compensating mechanism for mass mortality in a keystone predator

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Sullivan-Stack ◽  
BA Menge
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Top Predator ◽  
Oregon Coast ◽  
Ecological Release ◽  
Keystone Predator ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
Wasting Syndrome

Top predator decline has been ubiquitous across systems over the past decades and centuries, and predicting changes in resultant community dynamics is a major challenge for ecologists and managers. Ecological release predicts that loss of a limiting factor, such as a dominant competitor or predator, can release a species from control, thus allowing increases in its size, density, and/or distribution. The 2014 sea star wasting syndrome (SSWS) outbreak decimated populations of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus along the Oregon coast, USA. This event provided an opportunity to test the predictions of ecological release across a broad spatial scale and determine the role of competitive dynamics in top predator recovery. We hypothesized that after P. ochraceus loss, populations of the subordinate sea star Leptasterias sp. would grow larger, more abundant, and move downshore. We based these predictions on prior research in Washington State showing that Leptasterias sp. competed with P. ochraceus for food. Further, we predicted that ecological release of Leptasterias sp. could provide a bottleneck to P. ochraceus recovery. Using field surveys, we found no clear change in density or distribution in Leptasterias sp. populations post-SSWS, and decreases in body size. In a field experiment, we found no evidence of competition between similar-sized Leptasterias sp. and P. ochraceus. Thus, the mechanisms underlying our predictions were not in effect along the Oregon coast, which we attribute to differences in habitat overlap and food availability between the 2 regions. Our results suggest that response to the loss of a dominant competitor can be unpredictable even when based in theory and previous research.

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