Archive for conservation

Quantifying coastal and marine ecosystem carbon storage potential for climate mitigation policy and management

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 

Under the increasing threat of climate change, conservation practitioners and policy makers are seeking innovative and data–driven recommendations for mitigating emissions and increasing natural carbon sinks through nature-based solutions. While the ocean and terrestrial forests, and more recently, coastal wetlands, are well known carbon sinks, there is interest in exploring the carbon storage potential of other coastal and marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, kelp forests, phytoplankton, planktonic calcifiers, krill, and teleost fish. A recent study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment reviewed the potential and feasibility of managing these other coastal and marine ecosystems for climate mitigation. The authors concluded, that while important parts of the carbon cycle, coral reefs, kelp forests, planktonic calcifiers, krill, and teleost fish do not represent long-term carbon stores, and in the case of fish, do not represent a sequestration pathway. Phytoplankton do sequester globally significant amounts of carbon and contribute to long-term carbon storage in the deep ocean, but there is currently no good way to manage them to increase their carbon storage capacity; additionally, the vast majority of phytoplankton is located in international waters that are outside national jurisdictions, making it very difficult to include them in current climate mitigation policy frameworks.

Comparatively, coastal wetlands (mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses) effectively sequester carbon long-term (up to 10x more carbon stored per unit area than terrestrial forests with 50-90% of the stored carbon residing in the soil), and fall within clear national jurisdictions, which facilitates effective and quantifiable management actions. In addition, wetland degradation has the potential to release vast amounts of stored carbon back into the atmosphere and water column, meaning that conservation and restoration of these systems can also reduce potential emissions. The authors conclude that coastal wetland protection and restoration should be a primary focus in comprehensive climate change mitigation plans along with reducing emissions.

Authors:
Jennifer Howard (Conservation International)
Ariana Sutton-Grier (University of Maryland, NOAA)
Dorothée Herr (IUCN)
Joan Kleypas (NCAR)
Emily Landis (The Nature Conservancy)
Elizabeth Mcleod (The Nature Conservancy)
Emily Pidgeon (Conservation International)
Stefanie Simpson (Restore America’s Estuaries)

Original paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.1451/full

Filter by Keyword

abundance acidification africa air-sea interactions alkalinity allometry ammonium AMOC anoxic Antarctic anthropogenic carbon aragonite saturation arctic arsenic Atlantic Atlantic modeling atmospheric CO2 atmospheric nitrogen deposition authigenic carbonates autonomous platforms bacteria BATS bgc argo bioavailability biogeochemical cycles biogeochemical models biological pump biological uptake biophysics bloom blue carbon bottom water boundary layer buffer capacity CaCO3 calcification calcite carbon-climate feedback carbon-sulfur coupling carbon cycle carbon dioxide carbon sequestration Caribbean CCS changing marine ecosystems changing ocean chemistry chemoautotroph chl a chlorophyll circulation climate change CO2 coastal ocean cobalt Coccolithophores community composition conservation cooling effect copepod coral reefs currents cyclone DCM decomposers decomposition deep convection deep ocean deep sea coral deoxygenation depth diagenesis diatoms DIC diel migration dimethylsulfide dissolved inorganic carbon dissolved organic carbon DOC domoic acid dust earth system models eddy Education Ekman transport emissions ENSO enzyme equatorial regions ESM estuarine and coastal carbon fluxes estuary evolution export EXPORTS extreme weather events faecal pellets filter feeders filtration rates fish Fish carbon fisheries floats fluid dynamics fluorescence food webs forams freshening frontal zone future oceans geochemistry geoengineering GEOTRACES glaciers gliders global carbon budget global warming go-ship grazing greenhouse gas Greenland groundwater Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf Stream gyre harmful algal bloom high latitude human impact hydrothermal hypoxia ice age ice cores ice cover industrial onset iron iron fertilization isotopes jellies katabatic winds kelvin waves krill kuroshio land-ocean continuum larvaceans lateral transport lidar ligands light mangroves marine food webs marine snowfall marshes meltwater mesopelagic mesoscale metagenome metals methane microbes microlayer microorganisms microscale microzooplankton midwater mixed layer mixotrophy modeling mode water molecular diffusion MPT multi-decade NASA net community production new technology nitrate nitrogen nitrogen fixation nitrous oxide north atlantic north pacific nutricline nutrient budget nutrient cycling nutrient limitation ocean-atmosphere ocean acidification ocean carbon uptake and storage ocean color ocean observatories ODZ oligotrophic omics OMZ open ocean optics organic particles overturning circulation oxygen pacific paleoceanography particle flux pCO2 PDO peat pelagic pH phenology phosphorus photosynthesis physical processes physiology phytoplankton plankton POC polar regions pollutants prediction primary productivity proteins pteropods pycnocline radioisotopes remineralization remote sensing residence time resource management respiration resuspension rivers Rossby waves Ross Sea ROV salinity salt marsh satellite scale seafloor seagrass sea ice sea level rise seasonal patterns seaweed sediments sensors shelf system shells ship-based observations silicate sinking particles size SOCCOM soil carbon southern ocean south pacific spatial covariations speciation subduction submesoscale subpolar subtropical surface surface ocean teleconnections temperate temperature temporal covariations thermocline thermohaline thorium tidal time-series time of emergence top predators trace elements trace metals trait-based transfer efficiency transient features trophic transfer tropical turbulence twilight zone upper ocean upper water column upwelling US CLIVAR validation velocity gradient ventilation vertical flux vertical migration vertical transport volcano water quality western boundary currents wetlands winter mixing zooplankton

Copyright © 2020 - OCB Project Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Rd, MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA Phone: 508-289-2838  •  Fax: 508-457-2193  •  Email: ocb_news@us-ocb.org

link to nsflink to noaalink to WHOI

Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.