A marine heatwave drives massive losses from the world’s largest seagrass carbon stocks
Arias-ortiz, A.; Serrano, O.; Masque, P.; Lavery, P.S.; Mueller, U.; Kendrick, G.A.; Rozaimi, M.; Esteban, A.; Fourqurean, J.W.; Marba, N.; Mateo, M.A.; Murray, K.; Rule, M.J.; Duarte, C.M. (2018). A marine heatwave drives massive losses from the world’s largest seagrass carbon stocks. Nat. Clim. Chang. 8(4): 338-344. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0096-y In: Nature Climate Change. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 1758-678X; e-ISSN 1758-6798, more |  |
| Authors | | Top | - Arias-ortiz, A.
- Serrano, O.
- Masque, P.
- Lavery, P.S.
- Mueller, U.
| - Kendrick, G.A.
- Rozaimi, M.
- Esteban, A.
- Fourqurean, J.W.
- Marba, N.
| - Mateo, M.A.
- Murray, K.
- Rule, M.J.
- Duarte, C.M., more
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| Abstract | Seagrass ecosystems contain globally significant organic carbon (C) stocks. However, climate change and increasing frequency of extreme events threaten their preservation. Shark Bay, Western Australia, has the largest C stock reported for a seagrass ecosystem, containing up to 1.3% of the total C stored within the top metre of seagrass sediments worldwide. On the basis of field studies and satellite imagery, we estimate that 36% of Shark Bay’s seagrass meadows were damaged following a marine heatwave in 2010/2011. Assuming that 10 to 50% of the seagrass sediment C stock was exposed to oxic conditions after disturbance, between 2 and 9 Tg CO2 could have been released to the atmosphere during the following three years, increasing emissions from land-use change in Australia by 4–21% per annum. With heatwaves predicted to increase with further climate warming, conservation of seagrass ecosystems is essential to avoid adverse feedbacks on the climate system. |
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