Assessing the risk of carbon dioxide emissions from blue carbon ecosystems
Authors
Catherine Lovelock
Trisha Atwood
Jeff Baldock
Carlos Duarte
Sharyn Hickey
Paul Lavery, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Pere Masque´, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Peter Macreadie
Aurora Ricart
Oscar Serrano, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Andy Steven
Author Identifier
Paul Lavery
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5162-273X
Pere Masque
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1789-320X
Oscar Serrano
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
School
School of Science
RAS ID
25301
Funders
- CSIRO Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster
- The Oceans Institute of the University of Western Australia
- Global Change Institute of The University of Queensland
- Australian Research Council. Grant Numbers: DE130101084, LP160100242
Grant Number
ARC Number : DE130101084, ARC Number : LP160100242
Abstract
“Blue carbon” ecosystems, which include tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows, have large stocks of organic carbon (Corg) in their soils. These carbon stocks are vulnerable to decomposition and – if degraded – can be released to the atmosphere in the form of CO2. We present a framework to help assess the relative risk of CO2 emissions from degraded soils, thereby supporting inclusion of soil Corg into blue carbon projects and establishing a means to prioritize management for their carbon values. Assessing the risk of CO2 emissions after various kinds of disturbances can be accomplished through knowledge of both the size of the soil Corg stock at a site and the likelihood that the soil Corg will decompose to CO2.
DOI
10.1002/fee.1491
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Lovelock, C. E., Atwood, T., Baldock, J., Duarte, C. M., Hickey, S., Lavery, P. S., . . . Steven, A. (2017). Assessing the risk of carbon dioxide emissions from blue carbon ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 15(5), 257-265. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1491