Estimating Global “Blue Carbon” Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems

By L. Pendleton, D. C. Donato, Brian C. Murray, S. Crooks, W. A. Jenkins, S. Sifleet, C. Craft, J. Fourqurean, J. Kauffman, N. Marbà and 5 more. PLoS ONE, 2012

1,484 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems—marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses—that may be lost with habitat destruction (‘conversion’). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this ‘blue carbon’ can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15–1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3–19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6–42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.

Subfields: Ecology, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/962d430d958438ab13f3916236bebd27aacbb572

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Citations in the corpus

The potential of the blue economy : increasing long-term benefits of the sustainable use of marine resources for small island developing states and coastal least developed countries (2017, background): “Several key coastal habitats, such as sea grasses and mangroves, fix carbon at a much higher rate than comparable terrestrial systems (FAO 2014b; Pendleton et al. 2012).”
Natural climate solutions (2017, neutral): “Similarly, our estimates for specific pathways are lower than other studies for biochar (17), conservation agriculture (15), and avoided coastal wetland impacts (18).”
Blue carbon: : Knowledge gaps, critical issues, and novel approaches (2014, background): “As much as 50% of blue carbon ecosystems have been lost in the last half century, and ongoing degradation and destruction of these areas could account for as much as 19% of emissions from deforestation globally (Donato et al., 2011; Fourqurean et al., 2012; Pendleton et al., 2012).”
A global predictive model of carbon in mangrove soils (2014, methodology): “To estimate global carbon stocks we assume a carbonrich soil depth of 1 meter, as common in the literature (e.g. Donato et al 2011, Pendleton et al 2012, Siikamäki et al 2012).”
A review of seagrass economic valuations: Gaps and progress in valuation approaches (2016, background): “A compilation of the carbon sequestration potential of the global seagrass stock has documented exactly this effect (Fourqurean et al., 2012; Mcleod et al., 2011; Greiner et al., 2013; Pendleton et al., 2012; Lavery et al., 2013).”
Toward a Blue Economy (2016, background): “2016), where carbon is emitted with a half-life of 10 years (Pendleton et al. 2012).”
Ecological Variability and Carbon Stock Estimates of Mangrove Ecosystems in Northwestern Madagascar (2014, background): “Mangrove ecosystems also support high floral and faunal biodiversity [9,12–14] and sequester significant amounts of CO2 [15,16].”
Can macroalgae contribute to blue carbon? An Australian perspective (2015, background): “More recently, consideration of coastal systems as carbon sinks has led to increased investigation into understanding carbon cycling and storage in coastal systems (Pendleton et al. 2012).”
Rates and drivers of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia, 2000–2012 (2015, background): “7% of the global tropical forest area (13, 14).”