title: Impact of mooring activities on carbon stocks in seagrass meadows.
abstract: Boating activities are one of the causes that threaten seagrass meadows and the ecosystem services they provide. Mechanical destruction of seagrass habitats may also trigger the erosion of sedimentary organic carbon (Corg) stocks, which may contribute to increasing atmospheric CO2. This study presents the first estimates of loss of Corg stocks in seagrass meadows due to mooring activities in Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Sediment cores were sampled from seagrass meadows and from bare but previously vegetated sediments underneath moorings. The Corg stores have been compromised by the mooring deployment from 1930s onwards, which involved both the erosion of existing sedimentary Corg stores and the lack of further accumulation of Corg. On average, undisturbed meadows had accumulated ~6.4 Kg Corg m(-2) in the upper 50 cm-thick deposits at a rate of 34 g Corg m(-2) yr(-1). The comparison of Corg stores between meadows and mooring scars allows us to estimate a loss of 4.8 kg Corg m(-2) in the 50 cm-thick deposits accumulated over ca. 200 yr as a result of mooring deployments. These results provide key data for the implementation of Corg storage credit offset policies to avoid the conversion of seagrass ecosystems and contribute to their preservation.
authors.affiliation: School of Science and Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia.|UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia.|Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Acceso a la Cala S. Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Spain.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.affiliation: School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia.|Research and Development Centre for Marine, Coast, and Small Islands, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia 90245.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ruhon
authors.affiliation: School of Science and Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia.|Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Acceso a la Cala S. Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Spain.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lavery
authors.affiliation: UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia.|Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Acceso a la Cala S. Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Spain.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kendrick
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.affiliation: School of Science and Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia.|UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia.|Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals and Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.|School of Physics, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Masqué
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals and Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arias-Ortiz
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, EcoSciences Precinct-Dutton Park 41 Boggo Road Dutton Park QLD 4102, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steven
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Duarte
mesh_terms: D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000032:analysis*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D065948:Grassland; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis; D011998:Recreation; D014904:Western Australia
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D007854:Lead; D002119:Calcium Carbonate