Coastal vegetated environments are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth and are often collectively referred to as Blue Carbon habitats. These habitats include salt marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. They play a variety of important roles such as biodiversity support and coastal protection, while also providing nature-based solutions contributing to the mitigation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
Coastal vegetated ecosystems are under increasing pressure globally due to climate and sea-level change, as well as local anthropogenic activities, which can disrupt their resilience and their carbon balance. There is a pressing need to understand and address these global change impacts and pressures upon carbon cycling in these ecosystems, as well as the disruption to their overall ecosystem dynamics. A better understanding of the feedback loops between sediment carbon and vegetation, the intricate exchanges of different forms of carbon between the atmosphere, sediment, and water, and the interplay between human activities, carbon and ecosystem dynamics are all priority areas for further research effort.
The purpose of this session is to foster a convergence of scientists from multiple disciplines, including biogeochemists, ecologists, geographers, geoscientists, social scientists, as well as environmental managers and those interested in blue carbon policy development.
The session welcomes studies that (i) advance our understanding of all processes related to plant biomass and soil carbon in blue carbon ecosystems under past, current, or future environmental conditions; and (ii) underscore examples of successful management, conservation, and restoration practices, particularly in the context of enhancing carbon sequestration, burial and long-term storage, and the delivery of ecosystem services.
This session will contribute to the United Nations Decade for Ocean Sciences, with co-convenorship by the UN Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon in the Global Ocean (GO-BC).