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. 2019 Jul 3;9(1):9643.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45046-w.

Exotic Halophila stipulacea is an introduced carbon sink for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Eugenia T Apostolaki  1 , Salvatrice Vizzini  2   3 , Veronica Santinelli  2 , Helen Kaberi  4 , Cristina Andolina  2 , Evangelos Papathanassiou  4
Affiliations

Exotic Halophila stipulacea is an introduced carbon sink for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Eugenia T Apostolaki et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Carbon and nitrogen storage in exotic Halophila stipulacea were compared to that in native Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa meadows and adjacent unvegetated sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and to that in native H. stipulacea of the Red Sea at sites with different biogeochemical conditions and level of human pressure. Exotic H. stipulacea possessed considerable storing capacity, with 2-fold higher Corg stock (0.71 ± 0.05 kg m-2 in the top 20 cm of sediment) and burial (14.78 gCorg m-2 y-1) than unvegetated areas and C. nodosa meadows and, surprisingly, comparable to P. oceanica. N (0.07 ± 0.01 kg m-2) and Cinorg (14.06 ± 8.02 kg m-2) stocks were similar between H. stipulacea and C. nodosa or unvegetated sediments, but different to P. oceanica. Corg and N stocks were higher in exotic than native H. stipulacea populations. Based on isotopic mixing model, organic material trapped in H. stipulacea sediments was mostly allochthonous (seagrass detritus 17% vs seston 67%). Corg stock was similar between monospecific and invaded C. nodosa meadows by H. stipulacea. Higher stocks were measured in the higher human pressure site. H. stipulacea introduction may contribute in the increase of carbon sequestration in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots of organic and inorganic carbon and nitrogen stocks (kg m−2) at each habitat of the Mediterranean Sea. Significant difference (P < 0.05) between sites and habitats are given by capital and small letters, respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plots of organic carbon and nitrogen stocks (kg m−2) in H. stipulacea meadows of the two biogeographic regions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage contribution of end-members (grouped when their δ13C was not significantly different, see Materials and methods section) to the first 5 cm of sediment organic carbon of each habitat and site investigated. Each box contains 50% of the data, the thick horizontal line indicates the median; lower and upper whiskers of the boxes represent respectively the lowest and the highest values of the total range of the distribution. Black diamonds show the mean value, black triangles show the mode, where available.
Figure 4
Figure 4
210Pb activity (Bq kg−1) with sediment depth for H. stipulacea, unvegetated and C. nodosa habitats at Chania (only significant activities are shown).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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