2024-07-22 08:30:55
By Noemí Guillem Planella (CSIC)*
Almost everyone knows that ground crops are harvested carbon dioxide from the air and return oxygen to us. But, without a doubt, the role of the oceans, seas and coastal ecosystems in the transfer and retention of this compound, which contributes the most to global warming.
trees and terrestrial plants They use CO2 to carry out photosynthesis and store carbon in the form of leaves, trees and trunks, and in soil. The carbon they retain is known as ‘green carbon’. Las irrigated plants – Those found under the sea and in coastal areas – do exactly the same. They capture CO2 and use it to make the process that allows them to get energy. They store carbon in their leaves, rhizomes and roots, and bury significant amounts of this substance in the sediments in which they grow. It’s the call ‘carbon blue’.
CEAB researcher works at Posidonia Meadows. / CEAB
Ecosystems that perform this function are known as ‘blue carbon ecosystems’ and those of them in particular sequester CO2 for thousands of years. A family of ecosystems includes:
- Las seaweed or bushes: extensions of plants on the coast like, for example, Posidonia oceanica, Zostera marina, Zostera noltii, Cymodocea nodosa or Halophila stipulacea.
- Las salt marsh: Very shallow coastal lands that are flooded or periodically flooded as a result of the ebb and flow of currents or seawater.
- Lose mangroves, which is found in tropical and subtropical regions, at the mouth of rivers or streams to the sea. The species that inhabit them are aquatic plants and trees that withstand the high salinity of seawater mixed with fresh water.
CEAB-CSIC researchers did the field work. / CEAB
Natural carbon is cut
Blue carbon ecology They cover less than 2% of our planet’s surface, since they have been brutally abused throughout history – and even today – by humans. Despite this, they play a very important role in the carbon cycle.
Miguel Angel MateoA CSIC researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB), explains why: “Although its contribution is small, They absorb between 300 and 800 million tons of CO2 each yearthat has to be said between 0.8 and 2% of human CO2 emissions annually. It is half of all organic carbon stored by the world’s oceans. And, even more important, they track and store that carbon for hundreds to thousands of years. “
The scientist pointed out that the habitats created by these aquatic plants are genuine. natural carbon is cut: “although they absorb CO2 more slowly than forests, they are more efficient at storing it.” This is because the soils of blue carbon ecosystems are completely submerged, which causes matter to decompose much more slowly than that of most terrestrial ecosystems. “The ecosystem stores that carbon, and stores more and more, as long as it is alive and healthy,” said the researcher. “Blue carbon deposits have been dated to 12,000 years old”Add to.
Miguel Ángel Mateo investigates in a posidonia land. / CEAB
Ecological risk
Him The carbon stored by these ecosystems is equivalent to less than one year of human-caused emissions.. However, “we continue to destroy these precious ecosystems,” he lamented. Fernando Brun, researcher at the University of Cádiz. “They are dry, they are built on top of them, they are polluted, they are damaged by flooding, by the approach of uncontrolled ships…”, list the experts.
Experts estimate that The degradation or destruction of these sites means that around 300 million tons of CO2 are released every year.. Brun explains: “When we destroy one of these organisms, the carbon that has been stored is regenerated and returned to its place in the organism, which leads to make climate change worse.
Them need and urgency to preserve the environment have brought these two scientists to lead the Spanish Association of Experts on Blue Carbon Ecosystems (G3ECA), which brings together the professors from a diverse farm specialized in blue carbon. Of recent creation, the group not only researches and promotes knowledge about the role of ecosystems in the carbon cycle. It also shows the other ecosystem services they provide.
Experts remember that aquatic plants is it him the first link in the food chaincreate key places for biodiversity – they are the habitat or shelter for many species―, They filter water, eliminate pollutants and protect areas from erosion and extreme events., increasingly frequent with climate change. They said: “Many opportunities that often seem to be overlooked.
* Noemí Guillem Planella belongs to the communication team Blanes Center for Advanced Studies (CEAB-CSIC).
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