Substantial blue carbon sequestration in the world’s largest seagrass meadow

Authors/Creators

Chuancheng Fu
Sofia Frappi
Michelle N. Havlik
Wells Howe
S. David Harris
Elisa Laiolo
Austin J. Gallagher
Pere Masqué, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Carlos M. Duarte

Abstract

Seagrass meadows are important sinks for organic carbon and provide co-benefits. However, data on the organic carbon stock in seagrass sediments are scarce for many regions, particularly The Bahamas, which accounts for up to 40.7% of the documented global seagrass area, limiting formulation of blue carbon strategies. Here, we sampled 10 seagrass meadows across an extensive island chain in The Bahamas. We estimate that Bahamas seagrass meadows store 0.42–0.59 Pg organic carbon in the top-meter sediments with an accumulation rate of 2.1–2.9 Tg annually, representing a substantial global blue carbon hotspot. Autochthonous organic carbon in sediments decreased from ~1980 onwards, with concomitant increases in cyanobacterial and mangrove contributions, suggesting disturbance of seagrass ecosystems, likely caused by tourism and maritime traffic activities. This study provides seagrass blue carbon data from a vast, understudied region and contributes to improving climate action for The Bahamas and the Greater Caribbean region.

RAS ID

64710

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

12-1-2023

Volume

4

Issue

1

Funding Information

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology / Beneath the Waves / Disney Conservation Fund / Pictet Doundation / Roger Sant and Doris Matsui / Code Blue Foundation / S. and K. Linblad / The Barry and Mimi Sternlicht Foundation / Pacific Treasure Foundation / Government of the Principality of Monaco

School

School of Science / Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publisher

Nature

Comments

Fu, C., Frappi, S., Havlik, M. N., Howe, W., Harris, S. D., Laiolo, E., . . . Duarte, C. M. (2023). Substantial blue carbon sequestration in the world’s largest seagrass meadow. Communications Earth & Environment, 4, article 474. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01154-0

Recommended Citation

Fu, C., Frappi, S., Havlik, M. N., Howe, W., Harris, S., Laiolo, E., Gallagher, A. J., Masqué, P., & Duarte, C. M. (2023). Substantial blue carbon sequestration in the world’s largest seagrass meadow. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01154-0