PJB-2024-70
MEASURING CARBON STOCKS FOR ENHANCING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES POTENTIALS OF SEAGRASS ECOSYSTEMS IN THE ATLANTIC COAST OF NORTHERN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA
Ogbuka, Josiah Chukwuemeka
Abstract
Seagrass is a vegetated marine ecosystem that captures and stores carbon in their systems. However, limited global database constrain quantification of seagrass carbon (C) stocks at local, regional, and global scales. To quantify and predict oceanic carbon stocks, sediment cores reaching 50 cm depth, above- and below-ground biomass, comprising seagrass leaves/shoot (above-ground), roots and rhizomes (below-ground), were sampled in the Halodule wrightii beds of Macapa River, while sediment samples were sampled in Halodule wrightii and mixed stands of Halodule sp. beds in Barra Grande lagoon at 8-30 cm depth, along the coastal fringes of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Brazil, South America. Pre-weighed acidified dry biomass samples were put in a CN analyzer and burned in the induction furnace at a high temperature of 1000 0C (Carlo Erba CN analyser, NA1500) to eliminate organic matter content (equivalent to organic carbon), and re-weighed after combustion, to account for C stocks. Results show 0.005 MgC/ha-1 and 0.018 MgC/ha-1 as above- and below-ground biomass C stocks respectively of Halodule wrightii in Macapa River, while seagrass sediment C stocks were 125.5 MgC/ha-1 and 36.9 MgC/ha-1 in Macapa River and Barra Grande lagoon, respectively. These findings advance the prospects of sustainable international carbon financing system for conservation and restoration of seagrass ecosystems to optimise oceanic carbon capture and storage. The study can also incentivize the replication of C stock measurements in other underrepresented seagrass bioregions such as Africa, to enhance seagrass ecosystem services potentials.
Keywords: Seagrass, Oceanic carbon capture and storage, Carlo Erba CN Analyser, Macapa River, Barra Grande lagoon, C stocks, Halodule wrightii, Halodule sp., International carbon financing system
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