Habitat characteristics provide insights of carbon storage in seagrass meadows

Inés Mazarrasa*, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, Oscar Serrano, Paul S. Lavery, Catherine E. Lovelock, Núria Marbà, Carlos M. Duarte, Jorge Cortés

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

136 Scopus citations

Abstract

Seagrass meadows provide multiple ecosystem services, yet they are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Because of their role as carbon sinks, protection and restoration of seagrass meadows contribute to climate change mitigation. Blue Carbon strategies aim to enhance CO2 sequestration and avoid greenhouse gasses emissions through the management of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including seagrass meadows. The implementation of Blue Carbon strategies requires a good understanding of the habitat characteristics that influence Corg sequestration. Here, we review the existing knowledge on Blue Carbon research in seagrass meadows to identify the key habitat characteristics that influence Corg sequestration in seagrass meadows, those factors that threaten this function and those with unclear effects. We demonstrate that not all seagrass habitats have the same potential, identify research priorities and describe the implications of the results found for the implementation and development of efficient Blue Carbon strategies based on seagrass meadows.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)106-117
Number of pages12
JournalMarine pollution bulletin
Volume134
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Pollution

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