Abstract
Shallow coastal ecosystems (SCEs) are generally recognized as not only significant organic carbon reservoirs but also as sources for CO2 emission to the atmosphere, thus posing a dilemma regarding their role in climate change mitigation measures. However, we argue that SCEs can act as sinks for atmospheric CO2 under a given set of biogeochemical and socioeconomic conditions. The key properties of SCEs that show net uptake of atmospheric CO2 are often characteristic of human-dominated systems, that is, high nutrient inputs from terrestrial systems, input of treated wastewater in which labile carbon has been mostly removed, and the presence of hypoxic waters. We propose a new perspective on the potential of human-dominated SCEs to contribute to climate change mitigation, both serving as carbon reservoirs and providing direct net uptake of atmospheric CO2, in light of human systems–ecosystem interactions. Namely, if we view the land and a SCE as an integrated system, with appropriate management of both wastewater treatment and SCE, we will be able to not only suppress CO2 release but also capture and store carbon.
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Kuwae, T. et al. (2019). CO2 Uptake in the Shallow Coastal Ecosystems Affected by Anthropogenic Impacts. In: Kuwae, T., Hori, M. (eds) Blue Carbon in Shallow Coastal Ecosystems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1295-3_11
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