Journal
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
Volume 12, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.629962
Keywords
blue carbon; ecosystem change; habitat loss; intertidal; historic change; marine; shifting baseline syndrome; Zostera spp
Categories
Funding
- Natural Environmental Research Council [NE/L002485/1]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study analyzed the occurrence and loss of seagrass in the UK, finding a decrease in seagrass area since 1998 and significant historical losses that may have impacted carbon storage and fish populations. The results demonstrate vast scale of losses and highlight opportunities for restoring seagrass to support ecosystem services.
The spatial extent of seagrass is poorly mapped, and knowledge of historical loss is limited. Here, we collated empirical and qualitative data using systematic review methods to provide unique analysis on seagrass occurrence and loss in the United Kingdom. We document 8,493 ha of recently mapped seagrass in the United Kingdom since 1998. This equates to an estimated 0.9 Mt of carbon, which, in the current carbon market represents about 22 pound million. Using simple models to estimate seagrass declines triangulated against habitat suitability models, we provide evidence of catastrophic seagrass loss; at least 44% of United Kingdom's seagrasses have been lost since 1936, 39% since the 1980's. However, losses over longer time spans may be as high as 92%. Based on these estimates, historical seagrass meadows could have stored 11.5 Mt of carbon and supported approximately 400 million fish. Our results demonstrate the vast scale of losses and highlight the opportunities to restore seagrass to support a range of ecosystems services.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available