Abstract Detail

Ecophysiology

Thorhaug, Anitra [1], Gallagher, John Barry [2], Schwarz, Arthur [3], Yap, Michael [4], kiswara, wawan [5], Berlyn, Graeme [6], Prathep, Anchana [7], Huang, Xiaoping [8], Dorward, Susan [9].

Climate Change from Blue Carbon in SE Asia from seagrass, mangroves.

Climate change solutions include scrubbing CO2 from the atmosphere or its partial distribution in the ocean, riverine, and fresh water carried out by restoration of major habitats such as tropical forests and the blue carbon of mangroves and seagrasses sequestering additional carbon into storage in the sediment or soil. Although mangroves (151,000 km2 globally) and seagrasses (171,000 km2 globally) are a small portion of global vegetation, their ability to concentrate organic carbon is very high, 3-5 times higher than tropical forests. Unfortunately, they are both being decimated by anthropogenic activity in Southeast Asia very intensely. We have carried out a meta-analysis of the chief Southeast Asian blue carbon habitats from integrating extents and in situ measurements merged into national averages throughout the tropical/subtropical portion of Southeast Asia (Myanmar to Papua New Guinea, upper Gulf of Tonkin to Indonesia). These large sedimentary organic carbon values demonstrate that this areas’ estuaries and shelves are a hotspot of Carbon sequestration. Extents of blue carbon habitat are mangroves (5.1 Million ha) and seagrasses (5.5 million ha). Particularly, the archipelagos nations which are receiving equatorial Pacific waters have high carbon sequestration. The largest archipelago Indonesia has the predominant MANGROVE ? SEAGRASS? stock over 3000 Tg C_org, followed by the archipelagos of New Guinea (450TgC_org), and Philippines (730 TgC_org). The Malay mainland peninsular nations also contain median blue carbon values such as Malaysia (150 TgC_org), Myanmar (87TgC_org), Vietnam (36TgC_org) and the tropical portion China along the Gulf of Tonkin and Hainan Island (35Tg C_org). This equals 4777 TgC_org overall, creating a hotspot of blue carbon sedimentary burial throughout the world. The mangroves carbon are portioned 2:1 above ground carbon to below ground, while seagrasses are found opposite. In a second overview analysis (Thorhaug et al 2019) a series of southeast mangrove restoration projects show regional success. Our recent seagrass analysis of Southeast Asian restoration success and sustainability focuses chiefly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia with lesser in Tropical china, and Vietnam. The particular mixture of CO₂ enriched Equatorial Pacific water flowing through the maze of islands creating geologically created upwellings of nutrients, enhances productivity of carbon to bolster the large number of mangroves and seagrass species’ (26) growth. The Immediate future must include stemming the tide of organic carbon loss in Southeast Asia by massive mangrove and seagrass restoration programs.

1 - Yale University, 1359 SW 22 Terrace, Miami, FL, 33145.0, United States
2 - Universiti of Malaysia Sabah, Borneo Marine Research Institute, Jalan UMS, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, 88400, Malaysia
3 - Southwestern Adventist University, Biological Sciences, 100 W Hillcrest, Keene, TX, 76059, United States
4 - Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Borneo Marine Research Institute, Malaysia
5 - Indonesian Institute of SciencesJakarta, Indonesia and Indonesian Seag, Research Centre for Oceanography, Jl. Amonia F – 10 Beji Timur , Depok, 16422, Indonesia
6 - Yale University, School Of Foresty & Evironmental Studies, Marsh Hall-360 PROSPECT ST, New Haven, CT, 06511, United States
7 - Excellence Center for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand, Prince of S, Seaweed and Seagrass Research Unit, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand
8 - Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangchow , China
9 - Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, NJ, USA

Keywords:
Blue carbon seagrass
Blue carbon Mangroves
Southeast Asian seagrass carbon
Southeast Asian Mangrove carbon
Carbon hotspot.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: ECOPH2, Ecophysiology II
Location: San Pedro 2/Starr Pass
Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2019
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: ECOPH2003
Abstract ID:269
Candidate for Awards:None