Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula
The importance of cold-water blue carbon as biological carbon pumps that sequester carbon into ocean sediments is now being realised. Most polar blue carbon research to date has focussed on deep water, yet the highest productivity is in the shallows. This study measured the functional biodiversity a...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2079-7737/11/2/320/ 2023-08-20T04:00:57+02:00 Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula Simon A. Morley Terri A. Souster Belinda J. Vause Laura Gerrish Lloyd S. Peck David K. A. Barnes agris 2022-02-17 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Ecology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Biology; Volume 11; Issue 2; Pages: 320 Antarctic benthic blue carbon carbon sequestration cryosphere climate change mitigation benthic biodiversity Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 2023-08-01T04:11:28Z The importance of cold-water blue carbon as biological carbon pumps that sequester carbon into ocean sediments is now being realised. Most polar blue carbon research to date has focussed on deep water, yet the highest productivity is in the shallows. This study measured the functional biodiversity and carbon standing stock accumulated by shallow-water (<25 m) benthic assemblages on both hard and soft substrata on the Antarctic Peninsula (WAP, 67° S). Soft substrata benthic assemblages (391 ± 499 t C km−2) contained 60% less carbon than hard substrata benthic assemblages (648 ± 909). In situ observations of substrata by SCUBA divers provided estimates of 59% hard (4700 km) and 12% soft (960 km) substrata on seasonally ice-free shores of the Antarctic Peninsula, giving an estimate of 253,000 t C at 20 m depth, with a sequestration potential of ~4500 t C year−1. Currently, 54% of the shoreline is permanently ice covered and so climate-mediated ice loss along the Peninsula is predicted to more than double this carbon sink. The steep fjordic shorelines make these assemblages a globally important pathway to sequestration, acting as one of the few negative (mitigating) feedbacks to climate change. The proposed WAP marine protected area could safeguard this ecosystem service, helping to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula MDPI Open Access Publishing Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Biology 11 2 320 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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English |
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Antarctic benthic blue carbon carbon sequestration cryosphere climate change mitigation benthic biodiversity |
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Antarctic benthic blue carbon carbon sequestration cryosphere climate change mitigation benthic biodiversity Simon A. Morley Terri A. Souster Belinda J. Vause Laura Gerrish Lloyd S. Peck David K. A. Barnes Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
topic_facet |
Antarctic benthic blue carbon carbon sequestration cryosphere climate change mitigation benthic biodiversity |
description |
The importance of cold-water blue carbon as biological carbon pumps that sequester carbon into ocean sediments is now being realised. Most polar blue carbon research to date has focussed on deep water, yet the highest productivity is in the shallows. This study measured the functional biodiversity and carbon standing stock accumulated by shallow-water (<25 m) benthic assemblages on both hard and soft substrata on the Antarctic Peninsula (WAP, 67° S). Soft substrata benthic assemblages (391 ± 499 t C km−2) contained 60% less carbon than hard substrata benthic assemblages (648 ± 909). In situ observations of substrata by SCUBA divers provided estimates of 59% hard (4700 km) and 12% soft (960 km) substrata on seasonally ice-free shores of the Antarctic Peninsula, giving an estimate of 253,000 t C at 20 m depth, with a sequestration potential of ~4500 t C year−1. Currently, 54% of the shoreline is permanently ice covered and so climate-mediated ice loss along the Peninsula is predicted to more than double this carbon sink. The steep fjordic shorelines make these assemblages a globally important pathway to sequestration, acting as one of the few negative (mitigating) feedbacks to climate change. The proposed WAP marine protected area could safeguard this ecosystem service, helping to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. |
format |
Text |
author |
Simon A. Morley Terri A. Souster Belinda J. Vause Laura Gerrish Lloyd S. Peck David K. A. Barnes |
author_facet |
Simon A. Morley Terri A. Souster Belinda J. Vause Laura Gerrish Lloyd S. Peck David K. A. Barnes |
author_sort |
Simon A. Morley |
title |
Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
title_short |
Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full |
Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
title_fullStr |
Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full_unstemmed |
Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
title_sort |
benthic biodiversity, carbon storage and the potential for increasing negative feedbacks on climate change in shallow waters of the antarctic peninsula |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
op_source |
Biology; Volume 11; Issue 2; Pages: 320 |
op_relation |
Ecology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
container_title |
Biology |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
320 |
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1774721572463968256 |