Global seagrass carbon stock variability and emissions from seagrass loss
Seagrass ecosystems are recognized for their capacity to sequester and store organic carbon, but there is large variability in soil organic carbon stocks associated with plant traits and environmental conditions, making the quantification and scaling of carbon storage and fluxes needed to contribute to climate change mitigation highly challenging. Here, we provide estimates of carbon stocks associated with seagrass systems (biomass and soil) through analyses of a comprehensive global database including 2700+ seagrass soil cores. The median global soil C<sub>org</sub> stock estimate is 24.2 (12.4 - 44.9) Mg C<sub>org</sub> ha<sup>-1</sup> in the top 30 cm of soil, 27% lower than estimates from previous global syntheses, refining the IPCC Tier 1 soil C<sub>org</sub> stock currently used for carbon accounting in places without local data. We estimate that seagrass carbon stocks at risk of degradation could emit 1,154 Tg (665 - 1699) CO<sub>2</sub> with a social cost of $213 billion (2020 US dollars), if no action is taken to conserve these habitats.
Authors
- Hilary Kennedy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2290-2120)
- Lynn-Wei Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5693-2884)
- Kiah Eng Lim
- James W. Fourqurean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0811-8500)
- Matthew P. J. Oreska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4550-7553)
- Johannes R. Krause (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5721-6353)
- Ariane Arias‐Ortiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9408-0061)
- Martin Dahl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2016-4857)
- Núria Marbà (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8048-6789)
- Daniel A. Friess (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3087-5233)
- Miguel Cifuentes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6560-947X)
- Karen J. McGlathery (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2810-8198)
- Óscar Serrano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5973-0046)
- Catherine E. Lovelock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2219-6855)
- Siti Maryam Yaakub (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5703-5189)
- Clint Cameron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6198-4782)
- Stephen Crooks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0881-2524)
- Emily Pidgeon
- Mathew A. Vanderklift
Institutions
- Tulane University (US)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere (AU)
- Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza Catie (CR)
- International Life Sciences Institute India (IN)
- Södertörn University (SE)
- Conservation International (US)
- Bangor University (GB)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Florida International University (US)
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (ES)
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (ES)
- Silvestrum Climate Associates (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-05-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59204-4
- Citations
- 33
- Primary Topic
- Marine and coastal plant biology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 59.19
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Florida International University
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación