The future of Blue Carbon science

Peter I Macreadie¹, Andrea Anton², John A Raven^{3

4

5}, Nicola Beaumont⁶, Rod M Connolly⁷, Daniel A Friess⁸, Jeffrey J Kelleway⁹, Hilary Kennedy¹⁰, Tomohiro Kuwae¹¹, Paul S Lavery¹², Catherine E Lovelock¹³, Dan A Smale¹⁴, Eugenia T Apostolaki¹⁵, Trisha B Atwood¹⁶, Jeff Baldock¹⁷, Thomas S Bianchi¹⁸, Gail L Chmura¹⁹, Bradley D Eyre²⁰, James W Fourqurean^{5

21}, Jason M Hall-Spencer^{22

23}, Mark Huxham²⁴, Iris E Hendriks²⁵, Dorte Krause-Jensen^{26

27}, Dan Laffoley²⁸, Tiziana Luisetti²⁹, Núria Marbà²⁵, Pere Masque^{12

30

31}, Karen J McGlathery³², J Patrick Megonigal³³, Daniel Murdiyarso^{34

35}, Bayden D Russell³⁶, Rui Santos³⁷, Oscar Serrano¹², Brian R Silliman³⁸, Kenta Watanabe¹¹, Carlos M Duarte²

Affiliations

¹ Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Center for Integrative Ecology, Geelong, VIC, 3125, Australia. p.macreadie@deakin.edu.au.
² King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center and Computational Bioscience Research Center, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
³ Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DQ, UK.
⁴ Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁵ School of Biological Science, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
⁶ Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK.
⁷ Australian Rivers Institute-Coast & Estuaries, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia.
⁸ Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
⁹ School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai bridge, Bangor, LL59 5AB, UK.
¹¹ Coastal and Estuarine Environment Research Group, Port and Airport Research Institute, 3-1-1 Nagase, Yokosuka, 239-0826, Japan.
¹² School of Science, Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.
¹³ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
¹⁴ Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
¹⁵ Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, PO Box 2214, 71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
¹⁶ Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322-5210, USA.
¹⁷ CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Mail Bag, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia.
¹⁸ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-2120, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC, H3A 0B9, Canada.
²⁰ Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.
²¹ Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Coastal Oceans Research, Florida International University, 11200 SW8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
²² School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
²³ Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
²⁴ School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, EH11 4BN, UK.
²⁵ Global Change Research Group, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Miquel Marquès 21, Esporles, 07190, Spain.
²⁶ Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, Silkeborg, 8600, Denmark.
²⁷ Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, bldg. 1540, Århus C, 8000, Denmark.
²⁸ World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
²⁹ Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK.
³⁰ The Oceans Institute and Department of Physics, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, Australia.
³¹ Departament de Física & Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain.
³² Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlotttesville, VA, 22903, USA.
³³ Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA.
³⁴ Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Jl. CIFOR, Situgede, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia.
³⁵ Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Bogor Agricultural University, Kampus Darmaga, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia.
³⁶ Swire Institute of Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³⁷ Center of Marine Sciences, CCMAR, University of Algarve, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal.
³⁸ Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA.

PMID: 31488846
PMCID: PMC6728345
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11693-w

Review

The future of Blue Carbon science

Peter I Macreadie et al. Nat Commun. 2019.

. 2019 Sep 5;10(1):3998.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11693-w.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Center for Integrative Ecology, Geelong, VIC, 3125, Australia. p.macreadie@deakin.edu.au.
² King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center and Computational Bioscience Research Center, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
³ Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DQ, UK.
⁴ Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁵ School of Biological Science, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
⁶ Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK.
⁷ Australian Rivers Institute-Coast & Estuaries, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia.
⁸ Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
⁹ School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai bridge, Bangor, LL59 5AB, UK.
¹¹ Coastal and Estuarine Environment Research Group, Port and Airport Research Institute, 3-1-1 Nagase, Yokosuka, 239-0826, Japan.
¹² School of Science, Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.
¹³ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
¹⁴ Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
¹⁵ Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, PO Box 2214, 71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
¹⁶ Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322-5210, USA.
¹⁷ CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Mail Bag, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia.
¹⁸ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-2120, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC, H3A 0B9, Canada.
²⁰ Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.
²¹ Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Coastal Oceans Research, Florida International University, 11200 SW8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
²² School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
²³ Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
²⁴ School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, EH11 4BN, UK.
²⁵ Global Change Research Group, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Miquel Marquès 21, Esporles, 07190, Spain.
²⁶ Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, Silkeborg, 8600, Denmark.
²⁷ Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, bldg. 1540, Århus C, 8000, Denmark.
²⁸ World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
²⁹ Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK.
³⁰ The Oceans Institute and Department of Physics, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, Australia.
³¹ Departament de Física & Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain.
³² Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlotttesville, VA, 22903, USA.
³³ Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA.
³⁴ Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Jl. CIFOR, Situgede, Bogor, 16115, Indonesia.
³⁵ Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Bogor Agricultural University, Kampus Darmaga, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia.
³⁶ Swire Institute of Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³⁷ Center of Marine Sciences, CCMAR, University of Algarve, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal.
³⁸ Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA.

PMID: 31488846
PMCID: PMC6728345
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11693-w

Erratum in

Author Correction: The future of Blue Carbon science.
Macreadie PI, Anton A, Raven JA, Beaumont N, Connolly RM, Friess DA, Kelleway JJ, Kennedy H, Kuwae T, Lavery PS, Lovelock CE, Smale DA, Apostolaki ET, Atwood TB, Baldock J, Bianchi TS, Chmura GL, Eyre BD, Fourqurean JW, Hall-Spencer JM, Huxham M, Hendriks IE, Krause-Jensen D, Laffoley D, Luisetti T, Marbà N, Masque P, McGlathery KJ, Megonigal JP, Murdiyarso D, Russell BD, Santos R, Serrano O, Silliman BR, Watanabe K, Duarte CM. Macreadie PI, et al. Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 8;10(1):5145. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13126-0. Nat Commun. 2019. PMID: 31705010 Free PMC article.

Abstract

The term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence. To help prioritise future research, we assembled leading experts in the field to agree upon the top-ten pending questions in BC science. Understanding how climate change affects carbon accumulation in mature BC ecosystems and during their restoration was a high priority. Controversial questions included the role of carbonate and macroalgae in BC cycling, and the degree to which greenhouse gases are released following disturbance of BC ecosystems. Scientists seek improved precision of the extent of BC ecosystems; techniques to determine BC provenance; understanding of the factors that influence sequestration in BC ecosystems, with the corresponding value of BC; and the management actions that are effective in enhancing this value. Overall this overview provides a comprehensive road map for the coming decades on future research in BC science.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Conceptual diagram showing the biogeochemistry of carbon associated with air-water CO₂ exchanges. Blue lines indicate the processes that enhance the uptake of atmospheric CO₂, and red lines indicate those that enhance the emission of CO₂ into the atmosphere. The CO₂ concentration in surface water is primarily responsible for determining the direction of the flux. The concentration of surface water CO₂ is determined by carbonate equilibrium in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and affected by net ecosystem production (the balance of photosynthesis, respiration, and remineralization), which directly regulate DIC (1 and 2), allochthonous particulate and dissolved organic carbon (C_org), particulate inorganic carbon (C_inorg), and DIC inputs from terrestrial systems and coastal oceans (3 and 4), net ecosystem C_inorg production (the balance of calcification and dissolution), directly regulating both DIC and total alkalinity (TA) (5, 6), and temperature (solubility of CO₂). Calcification produces CO₂ with a ratio (released CO₂/precipitated C_inorg) of approximately 0.6 in normal seawater

**Fig. 2**
Estimates of the economic value of blue carbon ecosystems per hectare. Data from ref. and references therein. Symbols and images are courtesy of the Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (ian.umces.edu/symbols/)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Nellemann C., et al. (eds) Blue Carbon. A Rapid Response Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme (GRID-Arendal, 2009). This report was the first to use the term ‘blue carbon’
1. Duarte CM, Losada IJ, Hendriks IE, Mazarrasa I, Marba N. The role of coastal plant communities for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Nat. Clim. Change. 2013;3:961–968.
1. McLeod E, et al. A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2011;9:552–560.
1. Macreadie Peter I, Serrano O, Maher Damien T, Duarte Carlos M, Beardall J. Addressing calcium carbonate cycling in blue carbon accounting. Limnol. Oceanogr. Lett. 2017;2:195–201.
1. Howard J, et al. Clarifying the role of coastal and marine systems in climate mitigation. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2017;15:42–50.

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The future of Blue Carbon science

Affiliations

The future of Blue Carbon science

Authors

Affiliations

Erratum in

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources