Coastal and estuarine blue carbon stocks in the greater Southeast Asia region: Seagrasses and mangroves per nation and sum of total

Climate Change solutions include CO2 extraction from atmosphere and water with burial by living habitats in sediment/soil. Nowhere on the planet are blue carbon plants which carry out massive carbon extraction and permanent burial more intensely concentrated than in SE Asia. For the first time we make a national and total inventory of data to date for “blue carbon” buried from mangroves and seagrass and delineate the constraints. For an area across Southeast Asia of approximately 12,000,000 km2, supporting mangrove forests (5,116,032 ha) and seagrass meadows (6,744,529 ha), we analyzed the region's current blue carbon stocks. This estimate was achieved by integrating the sum of estuarine in situ carbon stock measurements with the extent of mangroves and seagrass across each nation, then summed for the region. We found that mangroves ecosystems regionally supported the greater amount of organic carbon (3095.19Tg Corg in 1st meter) over that of seagrass (1683.97 Tg Corg in 1st meter), with corresponding stock densities ranging from 15 to 2205 Mg ha−1 and 31.3 to 2450 Mg ha−1 respectively, a likely underestimate for entire carbon including sediment depths. The largest carbon stocks are found within Indonesia, followed by the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Tropical China, Viet-Nam, and Cambodia. Compared to the blue carbon hotspot of tropical/subtropical Gulf of Mexico's total carbon stock (480.48 Tg Corg), Southeast Asia's greater mangrove–seagrass stock density appears a more intense Blue Carbon hotspot (4778.66 Tg Corg). All regional Southeast Asian nation states should assist in superior preservation and habitat restoration plus similar measures in the USA & Mexico for the Gulf of Mexico, as apparently these form two of the largest tropical carbon sinks within coastal waters. We hypothesize it is SE Asia's regionally unique oceanic–geologic conditions, placed squarely within the tropics, which are largely responsible for this blue carbon hotspot, that is, consistently high ambient light levels and year-long warm temperatures, together with consistently strong inflow of dissolved carbon dioxide and upwelling of nutrients across the shallow geological plates

Seagrass in Southeast Asia: A review of status and knowledge gaps, and a road map for conservation

AbstractSoutheast Asia has the highest diversity of seagrass species and habitat types, but basic information on seagrass habitats is still lacking. This review examines the known distribution, extent, species diversity, and research and knowledge gaps of seagrasses in Southeast Asia by biogeographic region of the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW). The extent of seagrass meadows in Southeast Asia is ~36,762.6 km2but this is likely an underestimate as some ecoregions were not well-represented and updated information was lacking. There is a paucity of information from the Western Coral Triangle Province, with no areal extent data available for the Indonesian regions of Kalimantan, Central and Southeast Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands, and West Papua. Regional research output has increased in the last two decades, with a trend towards more experimental, rather than descriptive research. However, there are knowledge gaps in socio-cultural-economic themed research, despite growing awareness of the importance of seagrass-human relationships in this region. Obstacles to advancing seagrass research, knowledge and conservation are rooted in either lack of expertise and training or the failure of effective management and policies. We propose a roadmap for seagrass conservation, with suggested solutions, including 1) encouraging collaboration between research institutions and scientists in the region to build capacity and share knowledge; 2) engaging with policymakers and governments to encourage science-based policies; 3) engaging with communities to raise awareness and foster stewardship of seagrass in the region.</jats:p

Coastal and estuarine blue carbon stocks in the greater Southeast Asia region: seagrasses and mangroves per nation and sum of total

Climate Change solutions include CO2 extraction from atmosphere and water with burial by living habitats insediment/soil. Nowhere on the planet are blue carbon plants which carry out massive carbon extraction andpermanent burial more intensely concentrated than in SE Asia. For the first time we make a national and totalinventory of data to date for “blue carbon” buried from mangroves and seagrass and delineate the constraints.For an area across Southeast Asia of approximately 12,000,000 km2, supporting mangrove forests (5,116,032 ha)and seagrass meadows ( 6,744,529 ha), we analyzed the region's current blue carbon stocks. This estimate wasachieved by integrating the sum of estuarine in situ carbon stock measurements with the extent of mangroves andseagrass across each nation, then summed for the region. We found that mangroves ecosystems regionallysupported the greater amount of organic carbon (3094.69Tg Corg in 1st meter) over that of seagrass (1683.97 TgCorg in 1st meter), with corresponding stock densities ranging from 15 to 2205 Mg ha−1 and 31.3 to2450 Mg ha−1 respectively, a likely underestimate for entire carbon including sediment depths. The largestcarbon stocks are found within Indonesia, followed by the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, Malaysia,Thailand, Tropical China, Viet-Nam, and Cambodia. Compared to the blue carbon hotspot of tropical/subtropicalGulf of Mexico's total carbon stock (480.48 Tg Corg), Southeast Asia's greater mangrove–seagrass stock densityappears a more intense Blue Carbon hotspot (4779.16 Tg Corg). All regional Southeast Asian nation states shouldassist in superior preservation and habitat restoration plus similar measures in the USA & Mexico for the Gulf ofMexico, as apparently these form two of the largest tropical carbon sinks within coastal waters. We hypothesizeit is SE Asia's regionally unique oceanic–geologic conditions, placed squarely within the tropics, which arelargely responsible for this blue carbon hotspot, that is, consistently high ambient light levels and year-longwarm temperatures, together with consistently strong inflow of dissolved carbon dioxide and upwelling ofnutrients across the shallow geological plates