An evaluation of the organic carbon content found in Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum from Skutulsfjörður and Eyjafjörður, Iceland

• Main Author: Alexander, Sylvie
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: SIT Digital Collections 2021
• Subjects: Algae; Biostatistics; Climate; Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment; Oceanography; Eyjafjörður; Skutulsfjörður; Iceland
• Online Access: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3390; https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4414&context=isp_collection

In response to global warming and changing climate, carbon sequestration through macroalgal cultivation has emerged as a possible climate change mitigation technique. Macroalgal cultivation’s relationship to carbon sequestration however is still not well understood. It is imperative to understand macroalgae’s connection to carbon sequestration to evaluate if macroalgal cultivation can help combat climate change. There is a gap in literature regarding the carbon content of Icelandic macroalgae and therefore the contribution of Icelandic macroalgae to national and global carbon sequestration estimates. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by evaluating organic carbon content of Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum from Skutulsfjörður in the Westfjords and Eyjafjörður in Northern Iceland. F. vesiculosus and A. nodosum were analyzed to determine if species or location influenced organic carbon content. An elevated average percent organic carbon content of 62% organic carbon was discovered in the macroalgae. Further, a significant difference in mean carbon content for macroalgae from Eyjafjörður and macroalgae from Skutulsfjörður was discovered, with Eyjafjörður macroalgae exhibiting significantly higher mean carbon content than Skutulsfjörður macroalgae (t = -3.9133, df = 21.271, p-value= 0.0007836, p