Protecting Eelgrass and Blue Carbon ecosystems
Presentation Abstract
Eelgrass ecosystems may rival rainforests in terms of their carbon sequestration abilities, despite their much smaller relative size. However, they are in widespread decline due to a myriad of anthropogenically driven changes. Loss of “blue carbon” ecosystems represent a reduction in the carbon sink and a source of carbon emissions to the atmosphere that are not currently accounted for. It also represents a loss of critical habitats for a number of marine and coastal species, reduced natural coastal defences and the many other significant services that these ecosystems provide.
Anthropogenically driven changes do not act in isolation but are cumulative and synergistic. Furthermore eelgrass is an ecosystem engineer, so drivers of change and ecosystem responses form complex feedback loops creating bistability in ecosystems and unpredictable non-linear responses to threats. The complexity of these interactions is a challenge for quantification of threats and ecosystem responses. This has so far hamstrung efforts to calculate the impact on the global carbon budget, and ultimately to protect and restore these ecosystems. While largely qualitative in nature, systems analyses can help us to identify the most pervasive anthropogenic impacts (those which affect eelgrass in the greatest number of ways), and potentially synergistic and ameliorative relationships between drivers and consequences. This can help us to better assess levels of risk and priorities for conservation. Such analyses suggest that threats to eelgrass ecosystems cannot be considered in isolation and must be addressed simultaneously, and offer practical recommendations including that equal efforts must be made to restore adjacent saltmarsh and riparian ecosystems. To adequately protect eelgrass full, spatial protection of healthy eelgrass ecosystems and the adjacent foreshore is recommended.
Session Title
The Role of Eelgrass Ecosystems in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Habitat
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Eelgrass--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Analysis; Nature--Effect of human beings on--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Plant communities--Conservation--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Protecting Eelgrass and Blue Carbon ecosystems
2016SSEC
Eelgrass ecosystems may rival rainforests in terms of their carbon sequestration abilities, despite their much smaller relative size. However, they are in widespread decline due to a myriad of anthropogenically driven changes. Loss of “blue carbon” ecosystems represent a reduction in the carbon sink and a source of carbon emissions to the atmosphere that are not currently accounted for. It also represents a loss of critical habitats for a number of marine and coastal species, reduced natural coastal defences and the many other significant services that these ecosystems provide.
Anthropogenically driven changes do not act in isolation but are cumulative and synergistic. Furthermore eelgrass is an ecosystem engineer, so drivers of change and ecosystem responses form complex feedback loops creating bistability in ecosystems and unpredictable non-linear responses to threats. The complexity of these interactions is a challenge for quantification of threats and ecosystem responses. This has so far hamstrung efforts to calculate the impact on the global carbon budget, and ultimately to protect and restore these ecosystems. While largely qualitative in nature, systems analyses can help us to identify the most pervasive anthropogenic impacts (those which affect eelgrass in the greatest number of ways), and potentially synergistic and ameliorative relationships between drivers and consequences. This can help us to better assess levels of risk and priorities for conservation. Such analyses suggest that threats to eelgrass ecosystems cannot be considered in isolation and must be addressed simultaneously, and offer practical recommendations including that equal efforts must be made to restore adjacent saltmarsh and riparian ecosystems. To adequately protect eelgrass full, spatial protection of healthy eelgrass ecosystems and the adjacent foreshore is recommended.
