Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Estimating Seagrass Blue Carbon and Policy Implications: The Australian Perspective

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Seagrasses of Australia

Abstract

Blue carbon policy supports carbon sequestration whilst also conserving our remaining seagrass meadows . The complex biogeochemical processes within the sediment of seagrass meadows are responsible for the longevity of the stored carbon. Carbon stock and accumulation rates are controlled by the interaction of hydrodynamic, geochemical and biotic processes unique to each meadow. Carbon content (stock and flux) of a meadow must be quantified for inclusion in carbon accounting, whether for market trading or national greenhouse gas accounting. Management of seagrass blue carbon also requires estimates of additionality, leakage, permanence, conversion and emission factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 299.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 379.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 379.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • ABS (2015) 4655.0—Australian Environmental-Economic Accounts. Explanatory notes. Retrieved 15 Feb 2016, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4655.0Explanatory%20Notes12015?OpenDocument

  • Ajani J, Comisari P (2014) Towards a comprehensive and fully integrated stock and flow framework for carbon accounting in Australia. A discussion paper, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 78 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Arkema KK, Guannel G, Verutes G, Wood SA, Guerry A, Ruckelshaus M, Kareiva P, Lacayo M, Silver JM (2013) Coastal habitats shield people and property from sea-level rise and storms. Nat Clim Change 3(10):913–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier EB, Hacker SD, Kennedy C, Koch EW, Stier AC, Silliman BR (2011) The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services. Ecol Monogr 81(2):169–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blandon A, Zu Ermgassen PS (2014) Quantitative estimate of commercial fish enhancement by seagrass habitat in southern Australia. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 141:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cebrian J (2002) A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2. Limnol Oceanogr 47:11–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conservation International (2015) The blue carbon initiative. Mitigating climate change through coastal ecosystem management. Retrieved 11 Oct, 2015, from http://thebluecarboninitiative.org/

  • Costanza R, d’Arge R, De Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, O’neill RV, Paruelo J, Raskin RG (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387(6630):253–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Duarte CM, Marba N, Gacia E, et al (2010) Seagrass community metabolism: assessing the carbon sink capacity of seagrass meadows. Global Biogeochem Cycles 24:GB4032

    Google Scholar 

  • Enriquez S, Duarte CM, Sandjensen K (1993) Patterns in decomposition rates among photosynthetic organisms—the importance of detritus C-N-P content. Oecologia 94(4):457–471

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garrard SL, Beaumont NJ (2014) The effect of ocean acidification on carbon storage and sequestration in seagrass beds; a global and UK context. Mar Pollut Bull 86:138–146

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greiner JT, McGlathery KJ, Gunnell J, McKee BA (2013) Seagrass restoration enhances “blue carbon” sequestration in coastal waters. PLoS ONE 8(8):e72469

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Grimsditch G, Kenchington R, Alder J, Tamelander J, Nakamura T (2013) The blue carbon special edition–introduction and overview. Ocean Coast Manag 83:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hejnowicz AP, Kennedy H, Rudd MA, Huxham MR (2015) Harnessing the climate mitigation, conservation and poverty alleviation potential of seagrasses: prospects for developing blue carbon initiatives and payment for ecosystem service programmes. Front Mar Sci 2:32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IOC/UNESCO, I, FAO, UNDP (2011) A blueprint for ocean and coastal sustainability. IOC/UNESCO, Paris, 42 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Irving AD, Tanner JE, Seddon S, Miller D, Collings GJ, Wear RJ, Hoare SL, Theil MJ (2010) Testing alternate ecological approaches to seagrass rehabilitation: links to life-history traits. J Appl Ecol 47(5):1119–1127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy H, Beggins J, Duarte CM, Fourqurean JW, Holmer M, Marbà N, Middelburg JJ (2010) Seagrass sediments as a global carbon sink: Isotopic constraints. Global Biogeochem Cycles 24:GB4026

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau WWY (2013) Beyond carbon: conceptualizing payments for ecosystem services in blue forests on carbon and other marine and coastal ecosystem services. Ocean Coast Manag 83:5–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavery PS, Mateo MÁ, Serrano O, Rozaimi M (2013) Variability in the carbon storage of seagrass habitats and its implications for global estimates of blue carbon ecosystem service. PLoS ONE 8(9):e73748

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Luisetti T, Jackson EL, Turner RK (2013) Valuing the European ‘coastal blue carbon’ storage benefit. Mar Pollut Bull 71(1–2):101–106

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macreadie PI, Allen K, Kelaher BP, Ralph PJ, Skilbeck CG (2012) Paleoreconstruction of estuarine sediments reveal human-induced weakening of coastal carbon sinks. Glob Change Biol 18(3):891–901

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macreadie PI, Baird ME, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Larkum AWD, Ralph PJ (2014) Quantifying and modelling the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrass meadows. Mar Pollut Bull 83(2):430–439

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macreadie PI, Trevathan-Tackett SM, Skilbeck CG, Sanderman J, Curlevski N, Jacobsen G, Seymour JR (2015) Losses and recovery of organic carbon from a seagrass ecosystem following disturbance. Proc R Soc B 282:1817

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marba N, Arias-Ortiz A, Masque P, Kendrick GA, Mazarrasa I, Bastyan GR, Garcia-Orellana J, Duarte CM (2015) Impact of seagrass loss and subsequent revegetation on carbon sequestration and stocks. J Ecol 103(2):296–302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mateo MA, Cebrian J, Dunton K (2006) Carbon flux in seagrass ecosystems. In: Larkum AW, Orth RJ, Duarte CM (eds) Seagrasses: biology, ecology and conservation, pp 159–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcleod E, Chmura GL, Bouillon S, Salm R, Björk M, Duarte CM, Lovelock CE, Schlesinger WH, Silliman BR (2011) A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2. Front Ecol Environ 9(10):552–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nellemann C, Corcoran E, Duarte CM, Valdés L, De Young C, Fonseca L, Grimsditch G (eds) (2009) Blue carbon. A rapid response assessment. United Nations Environment Programme, GRID-Arendal, Norway, 79 pp. ISBN: 978-82-7701-060-1. http://www.grida.no/files/publications/blue-carbon/BlueCarbon_screen.pdf

  • Orth RJ, Carruthers TJB, Dennison WC, Duarte CM, Fourqurean JW, Heck KL, Hughes AR, Kendrick GA, Kenworthy WJ, Olyarnik S, Short FT, Waycott M, Williams SL (2006) A global crisis for seagrass ecosystems. Bioscience 56(12):987–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pendleton L, Donato DC, Murray BC, Crooks S, Jenkins WA, Sifleet S, Craft C, Fourqurean JW, Kauffman JB, Marba N, Megonigal P, Pidgeon E, Herr D, Gordon D, Baldera A (2012) Estimating global blue carbon emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems. PLoS ONE 7(9):e43542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pendleton LH, Thébaud O, Mongruel RC, Levrel H (2016) Has the value of global marine and coastal ecosystem services changed? Mar Policy 64:156–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozaimi M, Lavery PS, Serrano O, Kyrwood D (2016) Long-term carbon storage and its recent loss in a temperate estuarine Posidonia australis meadow. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2016.01.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selig ER, Turner WR, Troeng S, Wallace BP, Halpern BS, Kaschner K, Lascelles BG, Carpenter KE, Mittermeier RA (2014) Global priorities for marine biodiversity conservation. PLoS ONE 9(1):e82898

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano O, Lavery PS, Rozaimi M, Mateo MÁ (2014) Influence of water depth on the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrasses. Global Biogeochem Cycles 28:950–961. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GB004872

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trevathan-Tackett SM, Seymour JR, Nielsen DA, Macreadie PI, Jeffries TC, Sanderman J, Baldock J, Howes JM, Steven AD, Ralph PJ (2017) Sediment anoxia limits microbial-driven seagrass carbon remineralization under warming conditions. FEMS Microbiol Ecol

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevathan-Tackett SM, Kelleway J, Macreadie PI, Beardall J, Ralph P, Bellgrove A (2015) Comparison of marine macrophytes for their contributions to blue carbon sequestration. Ecology 96(11):3043–3057

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ullman R, Bilbao-Bastida V, Grimsditch G (2013) Including blue carbon in climate market mechanisms. Ocean Coast Manag 83:15–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waycott M, Duarte CM, Carruthers TJB, Orth RJ, Dennison WC, Olyarnik S, Calladine A, Fourqurean JW, Heck KL, Hughes AR, Kendrick GA, Kenworthy WJ, Short FT, Williams SL (2009) Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal ecosystems. PNAS 106(30):12377–12381

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zann LP (2000) The Eastern Australian region: a dynamic tropical/temperate biotone. Mar Pollut Bull 41:188–203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Peter J. Ralph

  2. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, 3-4 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    J. R. Crosswell

  3. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, EcoSciences Precinct, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    T. Cannard & Andrew D. L. Steven

Authors
  1. Peter J. Ralph
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. R. Crosswell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. Cannard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrew D. L. Steven
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter J. Ralph .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anthony W. D. Larkum

  2. School of Biological Sciences and the Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Autralia, Australia

    Gary A. Kendrick

  3. Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Peter J. Ralph

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ralph, P.J., Crosswell, J.R., Cannard, T., Steven, A.D.L. (2018). Estimating Seagrass Blue Carbon and Policy Implications: The Australian Perspective. In: Larkum, A., Kendrick, G., Ralph, P. (eds) Seagrasses of Australia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71354-0_22

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation