scholarly journals Climate change and Mediterranean seagrass meadows: a synopsis for environmental managers

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 462 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. PERGENT ◽  
H. BAZAIRI ◽  
C. N. BIANCHI ◽  
C. F. BOUDOURESQUE ◽  
M. C. BUIA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
The Mediterranean

This synopsis focuses on the effects of climate change on Mediterranean seagrasses, and associated communities, and on the contribution of the main species, Posidonia oceanica, to the mitigation of climate change effects through its role of sequestering carbon dioxide. Whilst the regression of seagrass meadows is well documented, generally linked to anthropogenic pressures, global warming could be a cause of new significant regressions, notably linked to the introduction of exotic species, the rise of Sea-Surface Temperature (SST), and relative sea level. Seagrass communities could also be affected by climate change through the replacement of seagrass species having high structural complexity by species of lower complexity and even by opportunistic introduced species. Although it is currently very difficult to predict the consequences of these alterations and their cascade effects, two main conflicting trends in the functioning of seagrass ecosystems that could occur are acceleration of the herbivore pathway or of the detritivore pathway. The mean net primary production of the dominant species, Posidonia oceanica, is relatively high and can be estimated to range between 92.5 to 144.7 g C m-2 a-1. Around 27% of the total carbon fixed by this species enters the sedimentary pathway leading to formation, over millennia, of highly organic deposits rich in refractory carbon. At the Mediterranean scale, the sequestration rate might reach 1.09 Tg C a-1. The amount of this stored carbon is estimated to range from 71 to 273 kg C m-2, which when considered at the Mediterranean scale would represent 11 to 42% of the CO2 emissions produced by Mediterranean countries since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The greatest value of the P. oceanica ecosystem, in the context of mitigation of global climate change, is linked to this vast long-term carbon stock accumulated over the millennia, and therefore, efforts should be focused on preserving the meadows to keep this reservoir intact.

scholarly journals Methane and Global Environmental Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave S. Reay ◽  
Pete Smith ◽  
Torben R. Christensen ◽  
Rachael H. James ◽  
Harry Clark
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Climate Feedback ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Methane Fluxes

Global atmospheric methane concentrations have continued to rise in recent years, having already more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution. Further environmental change, especially climate change, in the twenty-first century has the potential to radically alter global methane fluxes. Importantly, changes in temperature, precipitation, and net primary production may induce positive climate feedback effects in dominant natural methane sources such as wetlands, soils, and aquatic ecosystems. Anthropogenic methane sources may also be impacted, with a risk of enhanced emissions from the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. Here, we review the global sources of methane, the trends in fluxes by source and sector, and their possible evolution in response to future environmental change. We discuss ongoing uncertainties in flux estimation and projection, and highlight the great potential for multisector methane mitigation as part of wider global climate change policy.

Carbon storage in seagrass ecosystems along the Andaman coast of Thailand

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 429-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milica Stankovic ◽  
Naruemon Tantipisanuh ◽  
Anchana Prathep
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Human Disturbance ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
The West ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
Seagrass Ecosystems

Abstract Seagrass ecosystems are important contributors to mitigation of climate change, since they are responsible for large carbon sinks. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the importance of variability of carbon storage in various ecosystems. In this study, we estimated carbon storage in several structurally different seagrass meadows along the west coast of Thailand and determined whether degree of exposure, human disturbance, and meadow type influenced carbon storage within these meadows. Carbon content within the living vegetation was on average 3±2.7 Mg ha−1, whilst average storage of carbon in the sediment was 122±35.3 Mg ha−1. Meadow type and disturbance had a significant influence on total carbon storage in the ecosystem, while the degree of exposure of the bay did not show great differences. Uniform meadows had a higher average total carbon storage than mixed meadows (133±36.2 and 110±41.3 Mg ha−1, respectively). Undisturbed meadows had a higher average total carbon storage than disturbed ones (140±36.5 and 103±34.8 Mg ha−1, respectively). The results obtained contribute to our understanding of carbon storage on an ecosystem scale and can provide a baseline for proper management, conservation, and climate change studies in the region.

1. What is climate change?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Mark Maslin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel

‘What is climate change?’ discusses what climate change is. Climate change is no longer just a scientific concern, but encompasses economics, sociology, geopolitics, national and local politics, law, and health just to name a few. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) play an important role in moderating past global climate. Why they have been rising since before the Industrial Revolution, and why are they now considered dangerous pollutants? Which countries have produced the most anthropogenic GHGs and how is this changing with rapid economic development? It is important here to consider the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and how it regularly collates and assesses the most recent evidence for climate change.

“Nature Cannot Be Fooled”: A Dual-Equilibrium Simulation of Climate Change

2020 ◽  
pp. 108602662093746
Author(s):  
Sanwar A. Sunny
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Differential Calculus ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Oil Boom ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Market Economics ◽  
Equilibrium Simulation

Although organizational scholars and social scientists have recently called for the integration of the natural environment into management theories, natural scientists have long espoused integrative frameworks. Gottfried Leibniz, the founder of differential calculus, sought integration long before the industrial revolution and Ludwig Boltzmann, the pioneer of statistical mechanics, before the oil boom. Alfred Lotka formalized this notion long before the financial crisis of 1933, while Howard Odum extended it before the oil crisis of 1973. In this essay, and accompanying simulation, I summarize and visualize how the laws of thermodynamics are independently insufficient yet jointly necessary alongside market economics to address the pressing problem of global climate change.

scholarly journals Plant-microbe Symbioses Reveal Underestimation of Modeled Climate Impacts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjie Shi ◽  
Joshua B. Fisher ◽  
Richard P. Phillips ◽  
Edward R. Brzostek
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nitrogen Limitation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Microbial Symbionts

Abstract. The extent to which terrestrial ecosystems slow climate change by sequestering carbon hinges in part on nutrient limitation. We used a coupled carbon–climate model that accounts for the carbon cost to plants of supporting nitrogen-acquiring microbial symbionts to explore how nitrogen limitation affects global climate. The carbon costs of supporting symbiotic nitrogen uptake reduced net primary production, with the largest absolute effects occurring at low-latitudes and the largest relative changes occurring at high-latitudes. The largest impact occurred in high-latitude ecosystems, where such costs were estimated to increase temperature by 1.0 °C and precipitation by 9 mm yr−1. Globally, our model predicted that nitrogen limitation enhances temperature and decreases precipitation; as such, our results suggest that carbon expenditures to support nitrogen-acquiring microbial symbionts have critical consequences for Earth’s climate, and that carbon–climate models that omit these processes will over-predict the land carbon sink and under-predict climate change.

scholarly journals Contribution of Posidonia oceanica meadows in the context of climate change mitigation in the Mediterranean Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 105236
Author(s):  
Christine Pergent-Martini ◽  
Gérard Pergent ◽  
Briac Monnier ◽  
Charles-François Boudouresque ◽  
Christophe Mori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Change Mitigation

scholarly journals Strong stoichiometric resilience after litter manipulation experiments; a case study in a Chinese grassland

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 757-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Xiao ◽  
I. A. Janssens ◽  
Y. Zhou ◽  
J. Su ◽  
Y. Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Litter Addition ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
P Content ◽  
Litter Manipulation ◽  
Soil Inorganic N ◽  
Below Ground

Abstract. Global climate change has generally modified net primary production (NPP) which leads to increasing litter inputs in some ecosystems. Therefore, assessing the impacts of increasing litter inputs on soil nutrients, plant growth and ecological carbon (C) : nitrogen (N) : phosphorus (P) stoichiometry is critical for an understanding of C, N and P cycling and their feedback processes to climate change. In this study, we added plant above-ground litter, harvested near the experimental plots, to the 10–20 cm subsoil layer of a steppe community at rates equivalent to annual litter input of 0, 15, 30, 60 and 120%, respectively, covering the entire range of the expected NPP increases in this region due to climate change (10–60%). We measured the resulting C, N and P content of different pools (above- and below-ground plant biomass, litter, microbial biomass). Small litter additions, which are more plausible compared to the expected increase predicted by Earth system models, had no effect on the variables examined. Nevertheless, high litter addition (120% of the annual litter inputs) significantly increased soil inorganic N and available P, above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass and litter. Our results suggest that while very high litter addition can strongly affect C : N : P stoichiometry, the grassland studied here is resilient to more plausible inputs in terms of stoichiometric functioning.

Environmental Vulnerability to Climate Change in Mediterranean Basin

2017 ◽  
pp. 61-96
Author(s):  
Ahmed Karmaoui
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Environmental Vulnerability ◽  
The North ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Heterogeneous Region

The Mediterranean basin (MB) connects the south with the north and the East (Europe, Africa & Asia).It is a highly heterogeneous region where natural and anthropogenic activities interact in complex ways with climate variability. Climate change (CC) impacts are already defined on the Mediterranean. That is why the time has come to formulate a long-term plan for adaptation to CC of the MB. In this chapter the author aims (i) the assessment of the environmental vulnerability under CC provided in the BM during the last 30 years, (ii) the determination of environmental vulnerability indicators that the author call Major Common Indicators (MCI), and (iii) identification of adaptation strategies based on these indicators. For this analysis the author used the results of the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), developed by SOPAC. In this paper, the author extracted, compiled, compared and analyzed the data of the EVI of 8 selected Mediterranean countries; 4 countries in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt) and 4 Southern Europe (Spain, France, Italy and Greece).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document