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...
Published in: | Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/26523 https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
id |
ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/26523 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/26523 2023-05-15T13:45:59+02:00 Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula Morley, Simon A. SOUSTER, TERRI Vause, Belinda J. Gerrish, Laura Peck, Lloyd S. Barnes, David K. A. 2022-02-17 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/26523 https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 eng eng MDPI Biology (Basel) Morley SA, SOUSTER T, Vause, Gerrish L, Peck LS, Barnes. Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Biology (Basel). 2022;11(2) FRIDAID 2008420 doi:10.3390/biology11020320 2079-7737 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/26523 openAccess Copyright 2022 The Author(s) Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2022 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 2022-09-07T23:00:13Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Biology 11 2 320 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
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 |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Morley, Simon A. SOUSTER, TERRI Vause, Belinda J. Gerrish, Laura Peck, Lloyd S. Barnes, David K. A. |
spellingShingle |
Morley, Simon A. SOUSTER, TERRI Vause, Belinda J. Gerrish, Laura Peck, Lloyd S. Barnes, David K. A. Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula |
author_facet |
Morley, Simon A. SOUSTER, TERRI Vause, Belinda J. Gerrish, Laura Peck, Lloyd S. Barnes, David K. A. |
author_sort |
Morley, Simon A. |
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 |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/26523 https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
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_relation |
Biology (Basel) Morley SA, SOUSTER T, Vause, Gerrish L, Peck LS, Barnes. Benthic Biodiversity, Carbon Storage and the Potential for Increasing Negative Feedbacks on Climate Change in Shallow Waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Biology (Basel). 2022;11(2) FRIDAID 2008420 doi:10.3390/biology11020320 2079-7737 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/26523 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2022 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020320 |
container_title |
Biology |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
320 |
_version_ |
1766234686311366656 |