Role of carbonate burial in Blue Carbon budgets.

Calcium carbonates (CaCO3) often accumulate in mangrove and seagrass sediments. As CaCO3 production emits CO2, there is concern that this may partially offset the role of Blue Carbon ecosystems as CO2 sinks through the burial of organic carbon (Corg). A global collection of data on inorganic carbon burial rates (Cinorg, 12% of CaCO3 mass) revealed global rates of 0.8 TgCinorg yr-1 and 15-62 TgCinorg yr-1 in mangrove and seagrass ecosystems, respectively. In seagrass, CaCO3 burial may correspond to an offset of 30% of the net CO2 sequestration. However, a mass balance assessment highlights that the Cinorg burial is mainly supported by inputs from adjacent ecosystems rather than by local calcification, and that Blue Carbon ecosystems are sites of net CaCO3 dissolution. Hence, CaCO3 burial in Blue Carbon ecosystems contribute to seabed elevation and therefore buffers sea-level rise, without undermining their role as CO2 sinks.

Submerged macrophyte seed bank in a Mediterranean temporary marsh: abundance and relationship with established vegetation.

The abundance and composition of the submerged macrophyte seed bank in the Doñana marsh (southwestern Spain) was evaluated to assess its relationship with the overlying vegetation. The results obtained demonstrate the existence of a dense seed-bank, both in terms of the number of seeds and their biomass, which represented about 10% (5% for angiosperms and >20% for Charophyta) of the total plant biomass, which ensures the maintenance of the annual submerged macrophyte populations of the seasonally inundated Donñana marsh. Seed bank and established vegetation were coupled, as reflected in the existence of significant correlations between their structure and abundance. This coupling was lacking for Charophyta, whose oospores are widespread and abundant across the marsh, even at locations where they are absent, or rare, in the established vegetation. These differences between the seed bank of annual angiosperms and Charophyta appear to reflect, in part, structural differences between angiosperm seeds and Charophyta oospores, with important ecological consequences. An important aspect of these differences is the allocation of Charophyta reproductive effort to many small propagules lacking embryo storage, compared to those of angiosperms, which ensures their efficient dispersal and numerical abundance in the seed bank.