Articles | Volume 19, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4619-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4619-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
28 Sep 2022
Research article |
| 28 Sep 2022
| 28 Sep 2022
Mediterranean seagrasses as carbon sinks: methodological and regional differences
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB),
C/Miquel Marqués 21, 07109, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Anna Escolano-Moltó
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB),
C/Miquel Marqués 21, 07109, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Susana Flecha
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB),
C/Miquel Marqués 21, 07109, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (ICMAN-CSIC), Campus
Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11519, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
Raquel Vaquer-Sunyer
Marilles Foundation, la Rambla 13, 07003, Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain
Marlene Wesselmann
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB),
C/Miquel Marqués 21, 07109, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Núria Marbà
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA-CSIC-UIB),
C/Miquel Marqués 21, 07109, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Related authors
Susana Flecha, Mercedes de la Paz, Fiz Fernández Pérez, Núria Marbà, Carlos Morell, Eva Alou-Font, Joaquín Tintoré, and Iris E. Hendriks
Ocean Sci., 21, 1515–1532, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1515-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1515-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, is understudied in coastal zones. We present N2O concentrations and air–sea fluxes from the Balearic coast (2018–2023). Concentrations varied slightly across sites, with areas acting as weak sources or being near equilibrium. Temperature was the main driver of seasonal changes. These findings improve our understanding of coastal N2O emissions.
Marta Álvarez, Maribel I. García-Ibáñez, Nico Lange, Alex Kozyr, Antón Velo, Toste Tanhua, Giuseppe Civitarese, Carolina Cantoni, Malek Belgacem, Katrin Schroeder, Rubén Acerbi, Laurent Coppola, Thibaut Wagener, Noelia M. Fajar, Susana Flecha, Michele Giani, Louisa Giannoudi, Elisa F. Guallart, Abed El Rahman Hassoun, Emma I. Huertas, Valeria Ibello, Mehdia A. Keraghel, Ferial Louanchi, Anna Luchetta, Fiz F. Pérez, Carsten Schirnick, Ekaterini Souvermezoglou, Lidia Urbini, Monserrat Vidal, and Patrizia Ziveri
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-759, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-759, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
CARIMED (CARbon, tracers, and ancillary data In the MEDiterranean Sea) is a high-quality, FAIR dataset integrating hydrographic, biogeochemical, and transient tracer data from 46 research cruises (1976–2018) across the Mediterranean Sea. The data underwent rigorous, basin-adapted quality control to remove systematic biases, unifying four decades of fragmented data, delivering two complementary products: the aggregated original cruise data product and the bias-adjusted data synthesis product.
Susana Flecha, Mercedes de la Paz, Fiz Fernández Pérez, Núria Marbà, Carlos Morell, Eva Alou-Font, Joaquín Tintoré, and Iris E. Hendriks
Ocean Sci., 21, 1515–1532, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1515-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1515-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, is understudied in coastal zones. We present N2O concentrations and air–sea fluxes from the Balearic coast (2018–2023). Concentrations varied slightly across sites, with areas acting as weak sources or being near equilibrium. Temperature was the main driver of seasonal changes. These findings improve our understanding of coastal N2O emissions.
Nico Lange, Björn Fiedler, Marta Álvarez, Alice Benoit-Cattin, Heather Benway, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Laurent Coppola, Kim Currie, Susana Flecha, Dana S. Gerlach, Makio Honda, I. Emma Huertas, Siv K. Lauvset, Frank Muller-Karger, Arne Körtzinger, Kevin M. O'Brien, Sólveig R. Ólafsdóttir, Fernando C. Pacheco, Digna Rueda-Roa, Ingunn Skjelvan, Masahide Wakita, Angelicque White, and Toste Tanhua
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1901–1931, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1901-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1901-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Synthesis Product for Ocean Time Series (SPOTS) is a novel achievement expanding and complementing the biogeochemical data landscape by providing consistent and high-quality biogeochemical time-series data from 12 ship-based fixed time-series programs. SPOTS covers multiple unique marine environments and time-series ranges, including data from 1983 to 2021. All in all, it facilitates a variety of applications that benefit from the collective value of biogeochemical time-series observations.
Cited articles
Agawin, N. S. R., Ferriol, P., Sintes, E., and Moyà, G.: Temporal and
spatial variability of in situ nitrogen fixation activities associated with the
Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica meadows, Limnol. Oceanogr., 62, 2575–2592,
https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10591, 2017.
Agueda, P., Hendriks, I. E., Flecha, S., and Jorda, B.: Modified matlab model based on Cole et al. (2000), GitHub [code], https://github.com/PAgueda/Code, last access: 16 June 2022.
Alcoverro, T., Duarte, C. M., and Romero, J.: Annual growth dynamics of
Posidonia oceanica: contribution of large-scale versus local factors to seasonality, Mar.
Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 120, 203–210, 1995.
Ali, E., Cramer, W., Carnicer, J., Georgopoulou, E., Hilmi, N. J. M., Le Cozannet, G., and Lionello, P.: Cross-Chapter Paper 4: Mediterranean Region, in: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D. C., Tignor, M., Poloczanska, E. S., Mintenbeck, K., Alegría, A., Craig, M., Langsdorf, S., Löschke, S., Möller, V., Okem, A., and Rama, B., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 2233–2272, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_CCP4.pdf, last access: 20 September 2022.
Amitai, Y., Yam, R., Montagna, P., Devoti, S., Correa, M. L., and Shemesh,
A.: Spatial and temporal variability in Mediterranean climate over the last
millennium from vermetid isotope records and CMIP5/PMIP3 models, Global
Planet. Change, 189, 103159,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103159, 2020.
Apostolaki, E. T., Holmer, M., Marbà, N., and Karakassis, I.: Metabolic
Imbalance in Coastal Vegetated (Posidonia oceanica) and Unvegetated Benthic Ecosystems,
Ecosystems, 13, 459–471, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9330-9, 2010.
Armitage, A. R. and Fourqurean, J. W.: Carbon storage in seagrass soils: long-term nutrient history exceeds the effects of near-term nutrient enrichment, Biogeosciences, 13, 313–321, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-313-2016, 2016.
Aufdenkampe, A. K., Mayorga, E., Raymond, P. A., Melack, J. M., Doney, S.
C., Alin, S. R., Aalto, R. E., and Yoo, K.: Riverine coupling of
biogeochemical cycles between land, oceans, and atmosphere, Front.
Ecol. Environ., 9, 53–60, https://doi.org/10.1890/100014, 2011.
Barrón, C. and Duarte, C. M.: Dissolved organic matter release in a
Posidonia oceanica meadow, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 374, 75–84, 2009.
Barrón, C., Marbà, N., Terrados, J., Kennedy, H., and Duarte, C. M.:
Community metabolism and carbon budget along a gradient of seagrass
(Cymodocea nodosa) colonization, Limnol. Oceanogr., 49, 1642–1651,
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2004.49.5.1642, 2004.
Barrón, C., Duarte, C. M., Frankignoulle, M., and Borges, A. V.: Organic
carbon metabolism and carbonate dynamics in a Mediterranean seagrass
(Posidonia oceanica), meadow, Estuar. Coast., 29, 417–426, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02784990, 2006.
Bay, D.: A field study of the growth dynamics and productivity of Posidonia oceanica (L.)
delile in Calvi Bay, Corsica, Aquat. Bot., 20, 43–64,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(84)90026-3, 1984.
Béthoux, J. P. and Copin-Montégut, G.: Biological fixation of
atmospheric nitrogen in the Mediterranean Sea, Limnol. Oceanogr.,
31, 1353–1358, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1986.31.6.1353, 1986.
Bonacorsi, M., Pergent-Martini, C., Breand, N., and Pergent, G.: Is
Posidonia oceanica regression a general feature in the Mediterranean Sea?, Mediterr.
Mar. Sci., 14, 193–203, https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.334, 2013.
Boudouresque, C. F., Bernard, G., Pergent, G., Shili, A., and Verlaque, M.:
Regression of Mediterranean seagrasses caused by natural processes and
anthropogenic disturbances and stress: a critical review, Bot. Mar., 52, 395–418,
https://doi.org/10.1515/BOT.2009.057, 2009.
Brown, J. H., Gillooly, J. F., Allen, A. P., Savage, V. M., and West, G. B.:
Toward a metabolic theory of ecology, Ecology, 85, 1771–1789,
https://doi.org/10.1890/03-9000, 2004.
Burrows, M. T., Schoeman, D. S., Buckley, L. B., Moore, P., Poloczanska, E.
S., Brander, K. M., Brown, C., Bruno, J. F., Duarte, C. M., Halpern, B. S.,
Holding, J., Kappel, C. V., Kiessling, W., O'Connor, M. I., Pandolfi, J. M.,
Parmesan, C., Schwing, F. B., Sydeman, W. J., and Richardson, A. J.: The
Pace of Shifting Climate in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems, Science, 334,
652–655, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1210288, 2011.
Cebrian, J.: Patterns in the Fate of Production in Plant Communities, Am.
Nat., 154, 449–468, https://doi.org/10.1086/303244, 1999.
Cebrian, J., Duarte, C. M., Marba, N., and Enriquez, S.: Magnitude and fate
of the production of four co-occurring western Mediterranean seagrass
species, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 155, 29-44, 1997.
Champenois, W. and Borges, A. V.: Seasonal and interannual variations of
community metabolism rates of a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow, Limnol.
Oceanogr., 57, 347–361, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2012.57.1.0347, 2012.
Champenois, W. and Borges, A. V.: Inter-annual variations over a decade of
primary production of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, Limnol. Oceanogr., 64, 32–45,
https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11017, 2019.
Chefaoui, R. M., Duarte, C. M., and Serrão, E. A.: Dramatic loss of
seagrass habitat under projected climate change in the Mediterranean Sea,
Glob. Change Biol., 24, 4919–4928, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14401,
2018.
Cole, J. J. and Caraco, N. F.: Atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide in a
low-wind oligotrophic lake measured by the addition of SF6, Limnol. Oceanogr., 43, 647–656, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1998.43.4.0647, 1998.
Cole, J. J., Pace, M. L., Carpenter, S. R., and Kitchell, J. F.: Persistence
of net heterotrophy in lakes during nutrient addition and food web
manipulations, Limnol. Oceanogr., 45, 1718–1730,
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2000.45.8.1718, 2000.
Coloso, J. J., Cole, J. J., Hanson, P. C., and Pace, M. L.:
Depth-integrated, continuous estimates of metabolism in a clear-water lake,
Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 65, 712–722,
10.1139/f08-006, 2008.
Condie, S. A. and Webster, I. T.: Estimating Stratification in Shallow Water
Bodies from Mean Meteorological Conditions, J. Hydraul.
Eng., 127, 286–292, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2001)127:4(286),
2001.
Conley, D. J., Carstensen, J., Vaquer-Sunyer, R., and Duarte, C. M.:
Ecosystem thresholds with hypoxia, in: Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems:
Towards better understanding and management strategies. Selected Papers from
the Second International Symposium on Research and Management of
Eutrophication in Coastal Ecosystems, 20–23 June 2006, Nyborg, Denmark,
edited by: Andersen, J. H. and Conley, D. J., Springer Netherlands,
Dordrecht, 21–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3385-7_3, 2009.
de los Santos, C. B., Krause-Jensen, D., Alcoverro, T., Marbà, N.,
Duarte, C. M., van Katwijk, M. M., Pérez, M., Romero, J.,
Sánchez-Lizaso, J. L., Roca, G., Jankowska, E., Pérez-Lloréns,
J. L., Fournier, J., Montefalcone, M., Pergent, G., Ruiz, J. M., Cabaço,
S., Cook, K., Wilkes, R. J., Moy, F. E., Trayter, G. M.-R., Arañó,
X. S., de Jong, D. J., Fernández-Torquemada, Y., Auby, I., Vergara, J.
J., and Santos, R.: Recent trend reversal for declining European seagrass
meadows, Nat. Commun., 10, 3356, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11340-4, 2019.
Dennison, W. C.: Effects of light on seagrass photosynthesis, growth and
depth distribution, Aquat. Bot., 27, 15–26,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(87)90083-0, 1987.
Diaz, R. J.: Overview of hypoxia around the world, J. Environ. Qual., 30,
275–281, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2001.302275x, 2001.
Díaz, R. J. and Rosenberg, R.: Marine benthic hypoxia: a review of its
ecological effects and the behavioural responses of benthic macrofauna,
Oceanogr. Mar. Biol., 33, 245–303, 1995.
Diaz-Almena, E., Marbà, N., and Duarte, C. M.: Consequences of
Mediterranean warming events in seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) flowering records, Glob. Change
Biol., 13, 224–235, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01260.x,
2007.
Duarte, C. M., Middelburg, J. J., and Caraco, N.: Major role of marine vegetation on the oceanic carbon cycle, Biogeosciences, 2, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2-1-2005, 2005.
Duarte, C. M., Marbà, N., Gacia, E., Fourqurean, J. W., Beggins, J.,
Barrón, C., and Apostolaki, E. T.: Seagrass community metabolism:
Assessing the carbon sink capacity of seagrass meadows, Global
Biogeochem. Cy., 24, GB4032, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GB003793, 2010.
Duarte, C. M., Hendriks, I. E., Moore, T. S., Olsen, Y. S., Steckbauer, A.,
Ramajo, L., Carstensen, J., Trotter, J. A., and McCulloch, M.: Is Ocean
Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on
Seawater pH, Estuar. Coasts, 36, 221–236, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-013-9594-3,
2013.
Egea, L. G., Jiménez-Ramos, R., Vergara, J. J., Hernández, I., and
Brun, F. G.: Interactive effect of temperature, acidification and ammonium
enrichment on the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa, Mar. Pollut. Bull., 134, 14–26,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.02.029, 2018.
Enríquez, S. and Rodríguez-Román, A.: Effect of water flow on
the photosynthesis of three marine macrophytes from a fringing-reef lagoon,
Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 323, 119–132, 2006.
Fofonoff, N. P. and Millard Jr., R. C.: Algorithms for the computation of
fundamental properties of seawater, in: UNESCO Technical Papers in Marine
Sciences, UNESCO, Paris, France, 53 pp., https://doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1450, 1983.
Fourqurean, J. W., Duarte, C. M., Kennedy, H., Marbà, N., Holmer, M.,
Mateo, M. A., Apostolaki, E. T., Kendrick, G. A., Krause-Jensen, D.,
McGlathery, K. J., and Serrano, O.: Seagrass ecosystems as a globally
significant carbon stock, Nat. Geosci., 5, 505–509, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1477,
2012.
Frankignoulle, M. and Bouquegneau, J. M.: Seasonal variation of the diel
carbon budget of a marine macrophyte ecosystem, Mar. Ecol.-Prog.
Ser., 38, 197–199, 1987.
Gacia, E., Marba, N., Cebrian, J., Vaquer-Sunyer, R., Garcias-Bonet, N., and
Duarte, C.: Thresholds of irradiance for seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) meadow metabolism: An
experimental approach, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 466, 69–79,
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09928, 2012.
Gazeau, F., Duarte, C. M., Gattuso, J.-P., Barrón, C., Navarro, N., Ruiz, S., Prairie, Y. T., Calleja, M., Delille, B., Frankignoulle, M., and Borges, A. V.: Whole-system metabolism and CO2 fluxes in a Mediterranean Bay dominated by seagrass beds (Palma Bay, NW Mediterranean), Biogeosciences, 2, 43–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2-43-2005, 2005.
Giorgi, F.: Climate change hot-spots, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L08707,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL025734, 2006.
Giorgi, F. and Lionello, P.: Climate change projections for the
Mediterranean region, Global Planet. Change, 63, 90–104,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2007.09.005, 2008.
Gobert, S., Cambridge, M. L., Velimirov, Pergent, G., Lepoint, G.,
Bouquegneau, J.-M., Dauby, P., Pergent-Martini, C., and Walker, D.: Biology
of Posidonia, in: SEAGRASSES: BIOLOGY, ECOLOGYAND CONSERVATION, Springer, 387 pp., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2983-7_17, 2006.
Grande, K. D., Marra, J. F., Langdon, C., Heinemann, K., and Bender, M. L.:
Rates of respiration in the light measured in marine phytoplankton using an
18O isotope-labelling technique, J. Exp. Mar. Biol.
Ecol., 129, 95–120, 1989.
Greiner, J. T., McGlathery, K. J., Gunnell, J., and McKee, B. A.: Seagrass
Restoration Enhances “Blue Carbon” Sequestration in Coastal Waters, PLOS
ONE, 8, e72469, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072469, 2013.
Gutiérrez, J. L., Jones, C. G., Byers, J. E., Arkema, K. K.,
Berkenbusch, K., Commito, J. A., Duarte, C. M., Hacker, S. D., Lambrinos, J.
G., Hendriks, I. E., Hogarth, P. J., Palomo, M. G., and Wild, C.: 7.04 –
Physical Ecosystem Engineers and the Functioning of Estuaries and Coasts A2
– Wolanski, Eric, in: Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, edited by:
McLusky, D., Academic Press, Waltham, 53–81,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374711-2.00705-1, 2011.
Heber, U., Bligny, R., Streb, P., and Douce, R.: Photorespiration is
Essential for the Protection of the Photosynthetic Apparatus of C3 Plants
Against Photoinactivation Under Sunlight, Bot. Acta, 109, 307–315,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1438-8677.1996.tb00578.x, 1996.
Hendriks, I. E., Sintes, T., Bouma, T. J., and Duarte, C. M.: Experimental
assessment and modeling evaluation of the effects of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica on flow
and particle trapping, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 356, 163–173,
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07316, 2008.
Hendriks, I. E., Duarte, C. M., and Alvarez, M.: Vulnerability of marine
biodiversity to ocean acidification: A meta-analysis, Estuar. Coast.
Shelf S., 86, 157–164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2009.11.022, 2010.
Hendriks, I. E., Olsen, Y. S., Ramajo, L., Basso, L., Steckbauer, A., Moore, T. S., Howard, J., and Duarte, C. M.: Photosynthetic activity buffers ocean acidification in seagrass meadows, Biogeosciences, 11, 333–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-333-2014, 2014.
Hendriks, I. E., Duarte, C. M., Marbà, N., and Krause-Jensen, D.: pH
gradients in the diffusive boundary layer of subarctic macrophytes, Polar
Biol., 40, 2343–2348, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2143-y, 2017.
Hendriks, I. E., Escolano-Moltó, A., Flecha, S., Vaquer-Sunyer, R., Wesselmann, M., and Marbà, N.: Mediterranean seagrasses as carbon sinks: Methodological and regional differences, Digital CSIC [data set], https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/263004, last access: 1 June 2022.
Hofmann, G. E., Smith, J. E., Johnson, K. S., Send, U., Levin, L. A.,
Micheli, F., Paytan, A., Price, N. N., Peterson, B., Takeshita, Y., Matson,
P. G., Crook, E. D., Kroeker, K. J., Gambi, M. C., Rivest, E. B., Frieder,
C. A., Yu, P. C., and Martz, T. R.: High-Frequency Dynamics of Ocean pH: A
Multi-Ecosystem Comparison, PLOS ONE, 6, e28983,
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028983, 2011.
Holloway, P. E.: A Criterion for Thermal Stratification in a Wind-Mixed
System, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 10, 861–869, 1980.
Holmer, M., Duarte, C. M., Boschker, H. T. S., and Barrón, C.: Carbon
cycling and bacterial carbon sources in pristine and impacted Mediterranean
seagrass sediments, Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 36, 227–237, 2004.
IAPWS: Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2008 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Seawater, The International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam, Berlin, Germany, September 2008, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/seawater.pdf (last access: 22 October 2020), 2008.
IAPWS: Supplementary Release on a Computationally Efficient Thermodynamic
Formulation for Liquid Water for Oceanographic Use. The International
Association for the Properties of Water and Steam. Doorwerth, the
Netherlands, September 2009, https://www.iapws.org, 2009.
IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research; International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans): The International thermodynamic equation of seawater – 2010:
calculation and use of thermodynamic properties [includes corrections up to
31st October 2015], in: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Manuals
and Guides, UNESCO, Paris, France, 196 pp., https://doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1338,
2015.
Jordà, G., Marbà, N., and Duarte, C. M.: Mediterranean seagrass
vulnerable to regional climate warming, Nat. Clim. Change, 2, 821–824,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1533, 2012.
Karim, M. R., Sekine, M., Higuchi, T., Imai, T., and Ukita, M.: Simulation
of fish behavior and mortality in hypoxic water in an enclosed bay,
Ecol. Model., 159, 27–42,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(02)00282-X, 2003.
Karl, D. M., Laws, E. A., Morris, P., Williams, P. J. L., and Emerson, S.:
Metabolic balance of the open sea, Nature, 426, 32–32, https://doi.org/10.1038/426032a,
2003.
Keeling, R. F. and Garcia, H. E.: The change in oceanic O2 inventory
associated with recent global warming, P. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA, 99, 7848-7853, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.122154899, 2002.
Keeling, R. F., Körtzinger, A., and Gruber, N.: Ocean Deoxygenation in a
Warming World, Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci., 2, 199–229,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163855, 2010.
Kelly, M. W. and Hofmann, G. E.: Adaptation and the physiology of ocean
acidification, Funct. Ecol., 27, 980–990,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02061.x, 2013.
Kennedy, H., Beggins, J., Duarte, C. M., Fourqurean, J. W., Holmer, M., Marbà, N., and Middelburg, J. J.: Seagrass sediments as a global carbon sink: Isotopic constraints, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 24, GB4026, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GB003848, 2010.
Kihm, C. and Körtzinger, A.: Air-sea gas transfer velocity for oxygen
derived from float data, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 115, C12003,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JC006077, 2010.
Koopmans, D., Holtappels, M., Chennu, A., Weber, M., and de Beer, D.: High
Net Primary Production of Mediterranean Seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) Meadows Determined With
Aquatic Eddy Covariance, Front. Mar. Sci., 7, 118,
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00118, 2020.
Labasque, T., Chaumery, C., Aminot, A., and Kergoat, G.: Spectrophotometric
Winkler determination of dissolved oxygen: re-examination of critical
factors and reliability, Mar. Chem., 88, 53–60,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2004.03.004, 2004.
Lacoue-Labarthe, T., Nunes, P. A. L. D., Ziveri, P., Cinar, M., Gazeau, F.,
Hall-Spencer, J. M., Hilmi, N., Moschella, P., Safa, A., Sauzade, D., and
Turley, C.: Impacts of ocean acidification in a warming Mediterranean Sea:
An overview, Regional Studies in Marine Science, 5, 1–11,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2015.12.005, 2016.
Lejeusne, C., Chevaldonné, P., Pergent-Martini, C., Boudouresque, C. F.,
and Pérez, T.: Climate change effects on a miniature ocean: the highly
diverse, highly impacted Mediterranean Sea, Trends Ecol.
Evol., 25, 250–260, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.10.009, 2010.
Marbà, N. and Duarte, C. M.: Mediterranean warming triggers seagrass
(Posidonia oceanica) shoot mortality, Glob. Change Biol., 16, 2366–2375, 2010.
Marbà, N., Hemminga, M. A., Mateo, M. A., Duarte, C. M., Mass, Y. E. M.,
Terrados, J., and Gacia, E.: Carbon and nitrogen translocation between
seagrass ramets, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 226, 287–300, 2002.
Marbà, N., Díaz-Almela, E., and Duarte, C. M.: Mediterranean
seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) loss between 1842 and 2009, Biol. Conserv., 176,
183–190, 2014.
Marx, L., Flecha, S., Wesselmann, M., Morell, C., and Hendriks, I. E.:
Marine Macrophytes as Carbon Sinks: Comparison Between Seagrasses and the
Non-native Alga Halimeda incrassata in the Western Mediterranean (Mallorca), Front.
Mar. Sci., 8, 746379, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.746379, 2021.
Mateo, M. A., Cebrián, J., Dunton, K., and Mutchler, T.: Carbon flux in
seagrass ecosystems, in: Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and Conservation,
edited by: Larkum, A. W. D., Orth, R. J., and Duarte, C. M., Springer,
Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 159–192, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-2983-7_7 (last access: 20 September 2022), 2006.
MATLAB: MATLAB and Statistics Toolbox Release, The MathWorks, Inc., Natick,
Massachusetts, United States, https://es.mathworks.com/products/statistics.html (last access: 18 August 2021), 2012.
McDougall, T. J. and Barker, P. M.: Getting started with TEOS-10 and the
Gibbs Seawater (GSW) oceanographic toolbox, SCOR/IAPSO WG, 127, 1–28, https://www.TEOS-10.org (last access: 19 September 2022), 2011.
Mcleod, E., Chmura, G. L., Bouillon, S., Salm, R., Björk, M., Duarte, C.
M., Lovelock, C. E., Schlesinger, W. H., and Silliman, B. R.: A blueprint
for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated
coastal habitats in sequestering CO2, Front. Ecol.
Environ., 9, 552–560, https://doi.org/10.1890/110004, 2011.
Micheli, F., Halpern, B. S., Walbridge, S., Ciriaco, S., Ferretti, F.,
Fraschetti, S., Lewison, R., Nykjaer, L., and Rosenberg, A. A.: Cumulative
Human Impacts on Mediterranean and Black Sea Marine Ecosystems: Assessing
Current Pressures and Opportunities, PLOS ONE, 8, e79889,
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079889, 2013.
Nykjaer, L.: Mediterranean Sea surface warming 1985–2006, Clim. Res.,
39, 11–17, 2009.
Odum, H. T. and Hoskin, C. M.: Comparative studies on the metabolism of
marine waters, Publications of the Institute of Marine Science, Texas, 5,
16–46, 1958.
Odum, H. T. and Wilson, R. F.: Further studies on reaeration and metabolism
of Texas bays, 1958–1960, Publications of the Institute of Marine Science,
Texas, 8, 23–55, 1962.
Olivé, I., Silva, J., Costa, M. M., and Santos, R.: Estimating Seagrass
Community Metabolism Using Benthic Chambers: The Effect of Incubation Time,
Estuaries and Coasts, 39, 138–144, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-9973-z, 2016.
Olsen, Y. S., Sánchez-Camacho, M., Marbà, N., and Duarte, C. M.:
Mediterranean Seagrass Growth and Demography Responses to Experimental
Warming, Estuar. Coasts, 35, 1205–1213, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9521-z,
2012.
Orth, R. J., Carruthers, T. J. B., Dennison, W. C., Duarte, C. M.,
Fourqurean, J. W., Heck, K. L., Hughes, A. R., Kendrick, G. A., Kenworthy, W. J., Olyarnik, S., Short, F. T., Waycott, M., and Williams, S. L.: A Global Crisis for
Seagrass Ecosystems, Bioscience, 56, 987–996,
https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[987:Agcfse]2.0.Co;2, 2006.
Pace, M. L. and Prairie, Y. T.: Respiration in lakes, Respiration in
aquatic ecosystems, 1, 103–122, 2005.
Paerl, H. W.: Assessing and managing nutrient-enhanced eutrophication in
estuarine and coastal waters: Interactive effects of human and climatic
perturbations, Ecol. Eng., 26, 40–54, 2006.
Pasqualini, V., Pergent-Martini, C., Clabaut, P., and Pergent, G.: Mapping
of Posidonia oceanica using Aerial Photographs and Side Scan Sonar: Application off the Island
of Corsica (France), Estuar. Coast. Shelf S., 47, 359–367,
1998.
Pergent, G., Rico-Raimondino, V., and Pergent-Martini, C.: Fate of primary
production in Posidonia oceanica meadows of the Mediterranean, Aquat. Bot., 59, 307–321, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(97)00052-1, 1997.
Pringault, O., Tassas, V., and Rochelle-Newall, E.: Consequences of respiration in the light on the determination of production in pelagic systems, Biogeosciences, 4, 105–114, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-4-105-2007, 2007.
R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing, R
Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, https://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 13 June 2022), 2021.
Ricart, A. M., Pérez, M., and Romero, J.: Landscape configuration
modulates carbon storage in seagrass sediments, Estuar. Coast. Shelf
S., 185, 69–76, 2017.
Richon, C., Dutay, J.-C., Bopp, L., Le Vu, B., Orr, J. C., Somot, S., and Dulac, F.: Biogeochemical response of the Mediterranean Sea to the transient SRES-A2 climate change scenario, Biogeosciences, 16, 135–165, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-135-2019, 2019.
Romero, J., Pérez, M., Mateo, M. A., and Sala, E.: The belowground
organs of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica as a biogeochemical sink, Aquat.
Bot., 47, 13–19, https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(94)90044-2, 1994.
Samper-Villarreal, J., Lovelock, C. E., Saunders, M. I., Roelfsema, C., and
Mumby, P. J.: Organic carbon in seagrass sediments is influenced by seagrass
canopy complexity, turbidity, wave height, and water depth, Limnol. Oceanogr., 61, 938–952, 2016.
Santos, R., Silva, J., Alexandre, A., Navarro, N., Barrón, C., and
Duarte, C. M.: Ecosystem metabolism and carbon fluxes of a tidally-dominated
coastal lagoon, Estuaries, 27, 977–985, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803424, 2004.
Savva, I., Bennett, S., Roca, G., Jordà, G., and Marbà, N.: Thermal
tolerance of Mediterranean marine macrophytes: Vulnerability to global
warming, Ecol. Evol., 8, 12032–12043, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4663, 2018.
Serrano, O., Lavery, P. S., Rozaimi, M., and Mateo, M. Á.: Influence of
water depth on the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrasses, Global
Biogeochem. Cy., 28, 950–961, 2014.
Simboura, N., Pavlidou, A., Bald, J., Tsapakis, M., Pagou, K., Zeri, C.,
Androni, A., and Panayotidis, P.: Response of ecological indices to nutrient
and chemical contaminant stress factors in Eastern Mediterranean coastal
waters, Ecol. Indic., 70, 89–105,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.018, 2016.
Simpson, J. and Hunter, J.: Fronts in the Irish sea, Nature, 250, 404–406,
1974.
Telesca, L., Belluscio, A., Criscoli, A., Ardizzone, G., Apostolaki, E. T.,
Fraschetti, S., Gristina, M., Knittweis, L., Martin, C. S., Pergent, G.,
Alagna, A., Badalamenti, F., Garofalo, G., Gerakaris, V., Louise Pace, M.,
Pergent-Martini, C., and Salomidi, M.: Seagrass meadows (Posidonia oceanica) distribution and
trajectories of change, Sci. Rep. UK, 5, 12505, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep12505,
2015.
Touratier, F. and Goyet, C.: Impact of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient
on the distribution of anthropogenic CO2 and first estimate of
acidification for the Mediterranean Sea, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 58, 1–15,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2010.10.002, 2011.
Trevathan-Tackett, S. M., Kelleway, J., Macreadie, P. I., Beardall, J.,
Ralph, P., and Bellgrove, A.: Comparison of marine macrophytes for their
contributions to blue carbon sequestration, Ecology, 96, 3043–3057, 2015.
Vaquer-Sunyer, R. and Duarte, C. M.: Thresholds of hypoxia for marine
biodiversity, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 105,
15452–15457, 2008.
Vaquer-Sunyer, R. and Duarte, C. M.: Experimental evaluation of the
response of coastal Mediterranean planktonic and benthic metabolism to
warming, Estuar. Coasts, 36, 697–707, 2013.
Vaquer-Sunyer, R., Duarte, C. M., Jordà, G., and Ruiz-Halpern, S.:
Temperature Dependence of Oxygen Dynamics and Community Metabolism in a
Shallow Mediterranean Macroalgal Meadow (Caulerpa prolifera). Estuar. Coasts, 35,
1182–1192, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9514-y, 2012.
Vargas-Yáñez, M., Jesús García, M., Salat, J.,
García-Martínez, M. C., Pascual, J., and Moya, F.: Warming trends
and decadal variability in the Western Mediterranean shelf, Global
Planet. Change, 63, 177–184, 2008.
Wanninkhof, R.: Relationship between wind speed and gas exchange over the ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 7373–7382, https://doi.org/10.1029/92JC00188, 1992.
Wanninkhof, R. and McGillis, W. R.: A cubic relationship between air-sea
CO2 exchange and wind speed, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26,
1889–1892, 1999.
Waycott, M., Duarte, C. M., Carruthers, T. J., Orth, R. J., Dennison, W. C.,
Olyarnik, S., Calladine, A., Fourqurean, J. W., Heck, K. L., and Hughes, A.
R.: Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal
ecosystems, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106,
12377–12381, 2009.
Wesselmann, M., Geraldi, N. R., Duarte, C. M., Garcia-Orellana,
J., Díaz-Rúa, R., Arias-Ortiz, A., Hendriks, I. E., Apostolaki, E. T., and Marbà, N.: Seagrass (Halophila stipulacea) invasion enhances carbon sequestration in the Mediterranean Sea, Glob. Change Biol., 27, 2592–2607, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15589, 2021.
Zhang, J., Gilbert, D., Gooday, A. J., Levin, L., Naqvi, S. W. A., Middelburg, J. J., Scranton, M., Ekau, W., Peña, A., Dewitte, B., Oguz, T., Monteiro, P. M. S., Urban, E., Rabalais, N. N., Ittekkot, V., Kemp, W. M., Ulloa, O., Elmgren, R., Escobar-Briones, E., and Van der Plas, A. K.: Natural and human-induced hypoxia and consequences for coastal areas: synthesis and future development, Biogeosciences, 7, 1443–1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-1443-2010, 2010.
Ziegler, S. and Benner, R.: Ecosystem metabolism in a subtropical,
seagrass-dominated lagoon, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 173, 1–12, 1998.
Short summary
Seagrasses are marine plants with the capacity to act as carbon sinks due to their high primary productivity, using carbon for growth. This capacity can play a key role in climate change mitigation. We compiled and published data showing that two Mediterranean seagrass species have different metabolic rates, while the study method influences the rates of the measurements. Most communities act as carbon sinks, while the western basin might be more productive than the eastern Mediterranean.
Seagrasses are marine plants with the capacity to act as carbon sinks due to their high primary...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint