Published

Credit: Erika Zambello

Credit: Erika Zambello

A 20-year landscape-scale experiment at VCR LTER was the first to show the role of restoration in reestablishing carbon burial in seagrass meadows, which matches natural systems after a decade. Virginia Coast Reserve scientists authored the international protocol through Verified Carbon Standards for issuing seagrass restoration carbon offset credits on the voluntary market. Carbon stored in sediments and sequestered in seagrass biomass is vulnerable to marine heatwaves that are projected to increase.

Learn more

  1. McGlathery, KJ et al. 2012. Recovery trajectories during state change from bare sediment to eelgrass dominance. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi: 10.3354/meps09574
  2. Oreska, MPJ et al. 2017. Seagrass blue carbon accumulation at the meadow-scale. PLOS One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176630
  3. Carr, JA et al. 2012. Stability and resilience of seagrass meadows to seasonal and interannual dynamics and environmental stress. Journal of Geophysical Research. doi:10.1029/2011JG001744

Contact

Karen McGlathery
kjm4k@virginia.edu

Posted:  July 10, 2020  

Research Themes: