Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks
Worldwide, seagrass meadows accumulate significant stocks of organic carbon (C), known as “blue” carbon, which can remain buried for decades to centuries. However, when seagrass meadows are disturbed, these C stocks may be remineralized, leading to significant CO2 emissions. Increasing ocean tempera...
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doaj-0d20a13819c2466da6ac87abdf8aec432021-01-07T04:53:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452021-01-01710.3389/fmars.2020.576784576784Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon StocksLillian R. Aoki0Karen J. McGlathery1Patricia L. Wiberg2Matthew P. J. Oreska3Amelie C. Berger4Peter Berg5Robert J. Orth6Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United StatesVirginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, United StatesWorldwide, seagrass meadows accumulate significant stocks of organic carbon (C), known as “blue” carbon, which can remain buried for decades to centuries. However, when seagrass meadows are disturbed, these C stocks may be remineralized, leading to significant CO2 emissions. Increasing ocean temperatures, and increasing frequency and severity of heat waves, threaten seagrass meadows and their sediment blue C. To date, no study has directly measured the impact of seagrass declines from high temperatures on sediment C stocks. Here, we use a long-term record of sediment C stocks from a 7-km2, restored eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadow to show that seagrass dieback following a single marine heat wave (MHW) led to significant losses of sediment C. Patterns of sediment C loss and re-accumulation lagged patterns of seagrass recovery. Sediment C losses were concentrated within the central area of the meadow, where sites experienced extreme shoot density declines of 90% during the MHW and net losses of 20% of sediment C over the following 3 years. However, this effect was not uniform; outer meadow sites showed little evidence of shoot declines during the MHW and had net increases of 60% of sediment C over the following 3 years. Overall, sites with higher seagrass recovery maintained 1.7x as much C compared to sites with lower recovery. Our study demonstrates that while seagrass blue C is vulnerable to MHWs, localization of seagrass loss can prevent meadow-wide C losses. Long-term (decadal and beyond) stability of seagrass blue C depends on seagrass resilience to short-term disturbance events.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.576784/fullZostera marinaeelgrassdisturbancemarine heat waveblue carbonrestoration |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lillian R. Aoki Karen J. McGlathery Patricia L. Wiberg Matthew P. J. Oreska Amelie C. Berger Peter Berg Robert J. Orth |
spellingShingle |
Lillian R. Aoki Karen J. McGlathery Patricia L. Wiberg Matthew P. J. Oreska Amelie C. Berger Peter Berg Robert J. Orth Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks Frontiers in Marine Science Zostera marina eelgrass disturbance marine heat wave blue carbon restoration |
author_facet |
Lillian R. Aoki Karen J. McGlathery Patricia L. Wiberg Matthew P. J. Oreska Amelie C. Berger Peter Berg Robert J. Orth |
author_sort |
Lillian R. Aoki |
title |
Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks |
title_short |
Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks |
title_full |
Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks |
title_fullStr |
Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seagrass Recovery Following Marine Heat Wave Influences Sediment Carbon Stocks |
title_sort |
seagrass recovery following marine heat wave influences sediment carbon stocks |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
issn |
2296-7745 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
Worldwide, seagrass meadows accumulate significant stocks of organic carbon (C), known as “blue” carbon, which can remain buried for decades to centuries. However, when seagrass meadows are disturbed, these C stocks may be remineralized, leading to significant CO2 emissions. Increasing ocean temperatures, and increasing frequency and severity of heat waves, threaten seagrass meadows and their sediment blue C. To date, no study has directly measured the impact of seagrass declines from high temperatures on sediment C stocks. Here, we use a long-term record of sediment C stocks from a 7-km2, restored eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadow to show that seagrass dieback following a single marine heat wave (MHW) led to significant losses of sediment C. Patterns of sediment C loss and re-accumulation lagged patterns of seagrass recovery. Sediment C losses were concentrated within the central area of the meadow, where sites experienced extreme shoot density declines of 90% during the MHW and net losses of 20% of sediment C over the following 3 years. However, this effect was not uniform; outer meadow sites showed little evidence of shoot declines during the MHW and had net increases of 60% of sediment C over the following 3 years. Overall, sites with higher seagrass recovery maintained 1.7x as much C compared to sites with lower recovery. Our study demonstrates that while seagrass blue C is vulnerable to MHWs, localization of seagrass loss can prevent meadow-wide C losses. Long-term (decadal and beyond) stability of seagrass blue C depends on seagrass resilience to short-term disturbance events. |
topic |
Zostera marina eelgrass disturbance marine heat wave blue carbon restoration |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.576784/full |
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