A number of scientists led by Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) Long Term Ecological Research scientist, James Fourqurean, have concluded that seagrasses may play a vital role in solving climate change.
In an interesting paper in the May 21 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, Fourqurean and his co-authors report that, on a unit area basis, seagrass meadows store up to twice as much carbon as the world’s temperate and tropical forests. Their paper, “Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock,” is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses, and suggests that conserving and restoring seagrass meadows may reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon stores, in addition to providing important ecosystems services to coastal communities.
Read the full article: Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock or the National Science Foundation press release about it: Seagrasses Can Store as Much Carbon as Forests.
