Seagrass meadows have one of the highest carbon sequestration and storage capacities than any other ecosystems.Carbon that is stored in the ecosystem is accumulated in the deposited sediment as well as in the living, above and below ground biomass, with a different rate of carbon sequestration and storage between the species.The objective of this research was to investigate carbon storage in the living plants and in the sediment among species of different size in tropical waters.The samples were collected from Phuket province, Thailand, in the high density monospecific patches of different size species (Enhalus acoroides as a big, Thalassia hemprhicii as a medium and Halophila ovalis as a small size species).Total carbon and carbon stored in above and below ground, was significantly different between the species (p<0.05), with the highest values in below ground parts of E. acoroides and T. hemprichii 238.10±85.07 and 134±21.55g Dw m -2 , respectively.Average organic carbon in the sediment was significantly different (p<0.05) as well, with E. acoroides having highest organic carbon content in the deeper layers of the sediment 1.14±0.25 % C org , while the other two species had higher organic carbon in the top and medium layers of sediment.The results of this preliminary research propose that big size species have higher carbon content than smaller species, which reflects in higher sequestration rates of carbon from the ocean, thus reducing the ocean carbon budget.Moreover, it provides necessary information on size of the species which is the key for the future carbon storage studies in the region.
Abstract Seagrass ecosystems are important contributors to mitigation of climate change, since they are responsible for large carbon sinks. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the importance of variability of carbon storage in various ecosystems. In this study, we estimated carbon storage in several structurally different seagrass meadows along the west coast of Thailand and determined whether degree of exposure, human disturbance, and meadow type influenced carbon storage within these meadows. Carbon content within the living vegetation was on average 3±2.7 Mg ha −1 , whilst average storage of carbon in the sediment was 122±35.3 Mg ha −1 . Meadow type and disturbance had a significant influence on total carbon storage in the ecosystem, while the degree of exposure of the bay did not show great differences. Uniform meadows had a higher average total carbon storage than mixed meadows (133±36.2 and 110±41.3 Mg ha −1 , respectively). Undisturbed meadows had a higher average total carbon storage than disturbed ones (140±36.5 and 103±34.8 Mg ha −1 , respectively). The results obtained contribute to our understanding of carbon storage on an ecosystem scale and can provide a baseline for proper management, conservation, and climate change studies in the region.
Abstract Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses have experienced extensive historical reduction in extent due to direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic land use change. Habitat loss has contributed carbon emissions and led to foregone opportunities for carbon sequestration, which are disproportionately large due to high ‘blue carbon’ stocks and sequestration rates in these coastal ecosystems. As such, there has been a rapid increase in interest in using coastal habitat restoration as a climate change mitigation tool. This review shows that restoration efforts are able to substantially increase blue carbon stocks, while also having a positive impact on various gaseous fluxes. However, blue carbon increases are spatially variable, due to biophysical factors such as climate and geomorphic setting. While there are potentially hundreds of thousands of hectares of land that may be biophysically suitable for restoration, these activities are still often conducted at small scales and with mixed success. Maximizing potential carbon gains through blue carbon restoration will require managers and coastal planners to overcome the myriad socioeconomic and governance constraints related to land tenure, legislation, target setting and cost, which often push restoration projects into locations that are biophysically unsuitable for plant colonization.
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