{"id":34831,"date":"2016-10-27T22:42:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T11:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=34831"},"modified":"2019-04-16T13:31:10","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T03:31:10","slug":"coastal-ecosystems-could-be-major-carbonsink-says-australian-researcher-reports-takvera-bluecarbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/coastal-ecosystems-could-be-major-carbonsink-says-australian-researcher-reports-takvera-bluecarbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal ecosystems could be major #carbonsink says Australian researcher reports @takvera #bluecarbon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr

Dr Peter Macreadie on seagrass carbon storage<\/p><\/div>\nBlue carbon is part of the solution to tackle climate change. So why aren’t we talking about it far more?<\/p>\n

Blue carbon refers to the carbon sequestration potential of coastal ecosystems: that zone reaching from just above the high tide mark to the coastal shallows. It includes salt marsh, mangroves and seagrass meadow ecosystems.<\/p>\n

We need to take care and nurture our coastal ecosystems as they can play a vital role in bio-sequestration of carbon at rates far in excess of forests and soil carbon farming.<\/p>\n

Biologists working with seagrasses met to present papers and discuss scientific practices at the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW) (Conference website<\/a>) in Wales 16th to 21st October. Just before the conference 122 scientists across 28 countries associated with the World Seagrass Association released a statement on the global importance of conserving and expanding seagrass meadows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the main plenary talks was given by Australian researcher Dr Peter Macreadie. He highlighted the importance of Seagrass carbon storage globally and for Australia. Yet it seems few media outlets are talking about this conference, and none from Australia that I could find, even though Australian researchers are prominent in this field.<\/p>\n

I have followed the career of Dr Peter Macreadie for a number of years. See my 2011 article on Coastal ecosystems suffer 100 fold decrease in capacity to store carbon mitigating climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The capacity for seagrass meadows to store carbon has interested me since then resulting in articles in 2012 on (Seagrass meadows are key carbon sinks for combatting climate change<\/a>) and 2013 on Seagrass projected to drastically decline with sea level rise<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The work that Dr Peter Macreadie and his team at the Blue Carbon Lab<\/a> at Deakin University in Victoria is extremely important.<\/p>\n

In a Deakin University media release<\/a> Macreadie called for the implementation of global carbon pricing to show both the economic and environmental benefit of seagrasses.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately seagrasses are not a charismatic species and are often overshadowed by coral reefs, but the work they do is massive,\u201d Dr Macreadie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeagrass meadows account for more than 10 per cent of the ocean\u2019s total carbon storage, and per hectare they hold twice as much carbon dioxide as rain forests.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeagrasses are among the planet\u2019s most effective natural ecosystems for sequestering carbon; but when degraded they can leak ancient carbon into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already reached a point where at least 50 per cent of seagrass beds have disappeared, and that\u2019s through human impacts like land run-off, coastal development, over-fishing and dredging. More needs to be done now to protect these delicate ecosystems before it\u2019s too late.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The heavy lifting in ocean carbon sequestration – or blue carbon – is done by just three habitats: seagrasses, tidal marshes and mangroves. These three ecosystems occupy only 0.2 percent of the sea floor yet they sequester more than half of the oceans carbon. They provide substantial environmental services including:<\/p>\n