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It's time to broaden what we consider a 'blue carbon ecosystem'
NatureScot, Perth, United Kingdom.
Marine Research and Innovation Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, VIC, Burwood, Australia.
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF). Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3909-2235
Marine Scotland Science, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
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2024 (English)In: Global Change Biology, ISSN 1354-1013, E-ISSN 1365-2486, Vol. 30, no 5, article id e17261Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Photoautotrophic marine ecosystems can lock up organic carbon in their biomass and the associated organic sediments they trap over millennia and are thus regarded as blue carbon ecosystems. Because of the ability of marine ecosystems to lock up organic carbon for millennia, blue carbon is receiving much attention within the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a nature-based solution (NBS) to climate change, but classically still focuses on seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and tidal marshes. However, other coastal ecosystems could also be important for blue carbon storage, but remain largely neglected in both carbon cycling budgets and NBS strategic planning. Using a meta-analysis of 253 research publications, we identify other coastal ecosystems—including mud flats, fjords, coralline algal (rhodolith) beds, and some components or coral reef systems—with a strong capacity to act as blue carbon sinks in certain situations. Features that promote blue carbon burial within these ‘non-classical’ blue carbon ecosystems included: (1) balancing of carbon release by calcification via carbon uptake at the individual and ecosystem levels; (2) high rates of allochthonous organic carbon supply because of high particle trapping capacity; (3) high rates of carbon preservation and low remineralization rates; and (4) location in depositional environments. Some of these features are context-dependent, meaning that these ecosystems were blue carbon sinks in some locations, but not others. Therefore, we provide a universal framework that can evaluate the likelihood of a given ecosystem to behave as a blue carbon sink for a given context. Overall, this paper seeks to encourage consideration of non-classical blue carbon ecosystems within NBS strategies, allowing more complete blue carbon accounting.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2024. Vol. 30, no 5, article id e17261
Keywords [en]
bivalve, blue carbon, burial, coral, coralline algae, nature-based solution, sediment, sequestration
National Category
Environmental Sciences Ecology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-224239DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17261ISI: 001214910300001PubMedID: 38712641Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85192143945OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-224239DiVA, id: diva2:1858073
Available from: 2024-05-15 Created: 2024-05-15 Last updated: 2024-07-11Bibliographically approved

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Burdett, Heidi L.Kamenos, Nicholas A.

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Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF)Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
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