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Assessing the risk of carbon dioxide emissions from blue carbon ecosystems
Author(s) -
Lovelock Catherine E,
Atwood Trisha,
Baldock Jeff,
Duarte Carlos M,
Hickey Sharyn,
Lavery Paul S,
Masque Pere,
Macreadie Peter I,
Ricart Aurora M,
Serrano Oscar,
Steven Andy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.1491
Subject(s) - blue carbon , environmental science , ecosystem , seagrass , carbon dioxide , soil carbon , soil water , carbon fibers , greenhouse gas , marsh , mangrove , environmental protection , ecology , wetland , soil science , biology , materials science , composite number , composite material
“Blue carbon” ecosystems, which include tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows, have large stocks of organic carbon (C org ) in their soils. These carbon stocks are vulnerable to decomposition and – if degraded – can be released to the atmosphere in the form of CO 2 . We present a framework to help assess the relative risk of CO 2 emissions from degraded soils, thereby supporting inclusion of soil C org into blue carbon projects and establishing a means to prioritize management for their carbon values. Assessing the risk of CO 2 emissions after various kinds of disturbances can be accomplished through knowledge of both the size of the soil C org stock at a site and the likelihood that the soil C org will decompose to CO 2 .
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