Abstract
Blue Carbon is a term coined in 2009 to draw attention to the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems and the need to conserve and restore them to mitigate climate change and for the other ecosystem services they provide. Blue Carbon has multiple meanings, which we aim to clarify here, which reflect the original descriptions of the concept including (1) all organic matter captured by marine organisms, and (2) how marine ecosystems could be managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thereby contribute to climate change mitigation and conservation. The multifaceted nature of the Blue Carbon concept has led to unprecedented collaboration across disciplines, where scientists, conservationists and policy makers have interacted intensely to advance shared goals. Some coastal ecosystems (mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass) are established Blue Carbon ecosystems as they often have high carbon stocks, support long-term carbon storage, offer the potential to manage greenhouse gas emissions and support other adaptation policies. Some marine ecosystems do not meet key criteria for inclusion within the Blue Carbon framework (e.g. fish, bivalves and coral reefs). Others have gaps in scientific understanding of carbon stocks or greenhouse gas fluxes, or currently there is limited potential for management or accounting for carbon sequestration (macroalgae and phytoplankton), but may be considered Blue Carbon ecosystems in the future, once these gaps are addressed.
Highlights
Blue Carbon is a term coined in 2009 to draw attention to the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems and the need to conserve and restore them to mitigate climate change and for the other ecosystem services they provide
Blue Carbon has multiple meanings, which we aim to clarify here, which reflect the original descriptions of the concept including (1) all organic matter captured by marine organisms, and (2) how marine ecosystems could be managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thereby contribute to climate change mitigation and conservation
In 1914 [3] some scientists concluded that seagrass (Zostera marina) contributed most of the carbon stocks in Danish coastal sediments, while others drew attention to the role of macrophytes as global carbon sinks [4], and provided a first estimate of their global contribution to carbon storage [5] and burial [6]
Summary
Research on different processes of the marine carbon cycle was already 100 years old in 1944 [1]. Underlying both these reports is the concept that marine ecosystems are important for CO2 capture from the atmosphere Both documents clearly articulated the imperative to focus on conserving and repairing marine ecosystems that contribute to this role, thereby avoiding CO2 emissions associated with their destruction and restoring their CO2 capture potential, which would reinstate many important ecosystem services these ecosystems provide. The multifaceted nature of the Blue Carbon concept has led to a rich, varied and cross-disciplinary research that spans biophysical sciences, conservation, economics, policy and law (see this issue), leading to unprecedented levels of collaboration among contributors in different disciplines, institutions and governments geared toward conserving and restoring coastal ecosystems to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, promote coastal adaptation to climate change and maintain ecosystem services. The similarity, but divergent emphases of the two early reports [7,8] has propagated over the science and policy landscape as interest in Blue Carbon has grown and there are increasing numbers of contributors with new ideas entering into the discourse
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