Losses and recovery of organic carbon from a seagrass ecosystem following disturbance

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMacreadie, PIen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTrevathan-Tackett, SMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSkibeck, CGen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSanderman, Jen_AU
dc.contributor.authorCurleveski, Nen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJacobsen, GEen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSeymour, JRen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-10T00:25:47Zen_AU
dc.date.available2016-03-10T00:25:47Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2015-10-21en_AU
dc.date.statistics2016-02-22en_AU
dc.description.abstractSeagrasses are among the Earth's most efficient and long-term carbon sinks, but coastal development threatens this capacity. We report new evidence that disturbance to seagrass ecosystems causes release of ancient carbon. In a seagrass ecosystem that had been disturbed 50 years ago, we found that soil carbon stocks declined by 72%, which, according to radiocarbon dating, had taken hundreds to thousands of years to accumulate. Disturbed soils harboured different benthic bacterial communities (according to 16S rRNA sequence analysis), with higher proportions of aerobic heterotrophs compared with undisturbed. Fingerprinting of the carbon (via stable isotopes) suggested that the contribution of autochthonous carbon (carbon produced through plant primary production) to the soil carbon pool was less in disturbed areas compared with seagrass and recovered areas. Seagrass areas that had recovered from disturbance had slightly lower (35%) carbon levels than undisturbed, but more than twice as much as the disturbed areas, which is encouraging for restoration efforts. Slow rates of seagrass recovery imply the need to transplant seagrass, rather than waiting for recovery via natural processes. This study empirically demonstrates that disturbance to seagrass ecosystems can cause release of ancient carbon, with potentially major global warming consequences.© 2015, The Royal Society.en_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumber20151537en_AU
dc.identifier.citationMacreadie, P. I., Trevathan-Tackett, S. M., Skibeck, C. G. Sanderman, J., Curleveski, N., Jacobsen, G. E., Seymour, J. R. (2015). Losses and recovery of organic carbon from a seagrass ecosystem following disturbance. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 282(1817), 20151537. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.1537en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc6442en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0962-8452en_AU
dc.identifier.issue1817en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleBiological Sciencesen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1537en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/6620en_AU
dc.identifier.volume282en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherThe Royal Society Publishingen_AU
dc.subjectLossesen_AU
dc.subjectCarbonen_AU
dc.subjectEcosystemsen_AU
dc.subjectEarth planeten_AU
dc.subjectIsotope datingen_AU
dc.subjectGreenhouse effecten_AU
dc.titleLosses and recovery of organic carbon from a seagrass ecosystem following disturbanceen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
Files
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles