Interannual carbon stocks in eelgrass areas around Mt. Desert Island: Implications for eelgrass protection and restoration in Maine
Holmes D, Hooper M, Schnorr MF, Johnson B, Farrell A, Disney JE. 2016. Interannual carbon stocks in eelgrass areas around Mt. Desert Island: Implications for eelgrass protection and restoration in Maine. Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
From the abstract: "Zostera marina, commonly known as eelgrass, is an important part of marine ecosystems around the world. This plant sequesters carbon by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in plant tissue and sediments. Eelgrass has experienced a significant worldwide decline, including the area around Mt. Desert Island, ME. In 2015, we determined the percent total carbon and dry bulk density in the above ground biomass, below ground biomass, and sediments in five remaining eelgrass areas. The majority of stored carbon was found in sediment. There were significantly larger carbon stocks in sediments from sites that had never lost eelgrass than sites that had lost eelgrass in the recent past. In 2016, we resampled sediment in these same five areas to determine interannual variation in carbon stocks and found no significant difference, except in eelgrass restoration areas where the carbon stock is significantly increasing. These data indicate that carbon stocks are restored where eelgrass is restored."
- Type
- Poster
- Authors
- Holmes, D; Hooper, M; Schnorr, M; Johnson, B; Farrell, A; Disney, J
- Date of Issue
- 2016-10-05
- Publisher
- Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Education, marine communities, Research & Studies, restoration, sediment