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Stability of ancient blue carbon in seagrass meadows

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering (Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Projects)

Start year: 2014

Summary: Carbon that is captured and stored by oceans - termed Blue Carbon (BC) - is a rapidly evolving area of research. Australia's seagrasses offset a considerable portion (~2%) of our greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering BC in sediments, but urbanisation and industrialization threaten this capacity. By combining physical and chemical characterization of BC with radiocarbon dating, this project will determine whether disturbance to seagrass meadows stimulates the loss of ancient buried BC. This project will inform the National Carbon Inventory and the sustainable management of seagrass ecosystems under threat now and into the future.

Keywords: Seagrass, carbon, carbon inventory

FOR Codes: Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Environments, Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems