Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Volume
36
Issue
10
Publisher
Wiley
School
Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research
RAS ID
54093
Funders
Australian Research Council Discovery
European Comission Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Grant Number: 795315
Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation program (NERC) Coastal Ecosystem Services in East Africa. Grant Number: NE/L001535/1
U.S. National Science Foundation. Grant Number: DEB-2025954
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research. Grant Number: 18H04156
European Union H2020. Grant Number: 869300
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Ramon y Cajal Fellowships. Grant Number: RYC2019-027073-I
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Grant Number: 20213AT014
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Grant Numbers: MDM2015-0552, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporación fellowship. Grant Number: IJC2020-045917-I I
Grant Number
ARC Number : DP200100575
Abstract
Our knowledge of the factors that can influence the stock of organic carbon (OC) that is stored in the soil of seagrass meadows is evolving, and several causal effects have been used to explain the variation of stocks observed at local to national scales. To gain a global-scale appreciation of the drivers that cause variation in soil OC stocks, we compiled data on published species-specific traits and OC stocks from monospecific and mixed meadows at multiple geomorphological settings. Species identity was recognized as an influential driver of soil OC stocks, despite their large intraspecific variation. The most important seagrass species traits associated with OC stocks were the number of leaves per seagrass shoot, belowground biomass, leaf lifespan, aboveground biomass, leaf lignin, leaf breaking force and leaf OC plus the coastal geomorphology of the area, particularly for lagoon environments. A revised estimate of the global average soil OC stock to 20 cm depth of 15.4 Mg C ha−1 is lower than previously reported. The largest stocks were still recorded in Mediterranean seagrass meadows. Our results specifically identify Posidonia oceanica from the Mediterranean and, more generally, large and persistent species as key in providing climate regulation services, and as priority species for conservation for this specific ecosystem service.
DOI
10.1029/2022GB007481
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Kennedy, H., Pagès, J. F., Lagomasino, D., Arias‐Ortiz, A., Colarusso, P., Fourqurean, J. W., ... & Duarte, C. M. (2022). Species traits and geomorphic setting as drivers of global soil carbon stocks in seagrass meadows. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 36(10), Article e2022GB007481. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GB007481