Vegetation Hydrodynamics To Inform Climate Mitigation And Adaptation

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass, provide many ecosystem services, including coastal protection and carbon sequestration, which make them an integral part of climate mitigation and adaptation (e.g., Fourqurean et al. 2012). Predicting the value of these ecosystem services requires an understanding of the interaction of fluid motion with vegetation. While seagrass meadows are recognized as global hotspots for carbon storage, the verification of seagrass carbon is complicated by significant heterogeneity. For example, Lavery et al. (2013) reported an 18-fold range in carbon stock across 17 different seagrass habitats (260 to 4800 g C m-2). This variability is a major source of uncertainty in assessing carbon stocks, motivating work to understand what drives it. Recent studies have highlighted how hydrodynamic conditions can be an important factor (e.g., Oreska et al. 2017, Novak et al, 2020). In this talk, we consider a combination of modeling and field measurement that explores the influence of wave and current conditions on carbon accretion in seagrass meadows.