Work Package 3: Carbon dynamics and accumulation in seagrass ecosystems

Objectives:

• Provide an evaluation of C processes and dynamics of Irish seagrass ecosystems and elucidate their contribution to the BC stock and sequestration rate by assessing both short and long-term C processes

• Mapping and modelling carbon seagrass stocks along the coast of Ireland to underpin the role of seagrass ecosystems in carbon sequestration service and locate BC hotspots

Tasks:

• In situ annual carbon flux in seagrass meadows

• Short-term and long-term quantification of sedimentary C stocks and accumulation rates

• Effects of habitat degradation on seagrass C sequestration and stock

• Seagrass modelling

Deliverables:

• Datasets on in situ C stocks and dynamics of seagrass ecosystems

• Data on dissolved C fluxes in Irish seagrass ecosystems

• Data on C sequestration rates and historical (from decades to centuries and millennial) carbon accumulation

• Data assessing the effect of habitat degradation on C accumulation

• Data using spatial models to calculate and map C stocks scales

• PhD thesis on ‘Carbon Dynamics and Quantification of the Carbon Stocks Retained by Irish Seagrass Ecosystems’’