Estimating the potential blue carbon gains from tidal marsh rehabilitation: a case study from South Eastern Australia Gulliver, Anne, Carnell, Paul E., Trevathan-Tackett, Stacey M., Duarte De Paula Costa, Micheli, Masqué, Pere and Macreadie, Peter I 2020, Estimating the potential blue carbon gains from tidal marsh rehabilitation: a case study from South Eastern Australia, Frontiers in marine science, vol. 7, pp. 1-13, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00403. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Estimating the potential blue carbon gains from tidal marsh rehabilitation: a case study from South Eastern Australia Author(s) Gulliver, Anne Carnell, Paul E. orcid.org/0000-0001-6747-1366 Trevathan-Tackett, Stacey M. orcid.org/0000-0002-4977-0757 Duarte De Paula Costa, Micheli Masqué, Pere Macreadie, Peter I orcid.org/0000-0001-7362-0882 Journal name Frontiers in marine science Volume number 7 Article ID 403 Start page 1 End page 13 Total pages 13 Publisher Frontiers in Marine Science Place of publication Lausanne, Switzerland Publication date 2020-05 ISSN 2296-7745 Keyword(s) additionality carbon accumulation Coastal restoration salt ponds saltmarsh wetland ecosystems Summary Historically, coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems (tidal marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows) have been impacted and degraded by human intervention, mainly in the form of land acquisition. With increasing recognition of the role of blue carbon ecosystems in climate mitigation, protecting and rehabilitating these ecosystems becomes increasingly more important. This study evaluated the potential carbon gains from rehabilitating a degraded coastal tidal marsh site in south-eastern Australia. Tidal exchange at the study site had been restricted by the construction of earthen barriers for the purpose of reclaiming land for commercial salt production. Analysis of sediment cores (elemental carbon and 210Pb dating) revealed that the site had stopped accumulating carbon since it had been converted to salt ponds 65 years earlier. In contrast, nearby recovered (“control”) tidal marsh areas are still accumulating carbon at relatively high rates (0.54 tons C ha–1year–1). Using elevation and sea level rise (SLR) data, we estimated the potential future distribution of tidal marsh vegetation if the earthen barrier were removed and tidal exchange was restored to the degraded site. We estimated that the sediment-based carbon gains over the next 50 years after restoring this small site (360 ha) would be 9,000 tons C, which could offset the annual emissions of ∼7,000 passenger cars at present time (at 4.6 metric tons pa.) or ∼1,400 Australians. Overall, we recommend that this site is a promising prospect for rehabilitation based on the opportunity for blue carbon additionality, and that the business case for rehabilitation could be bolstered through valuation of other co-benefits, such as nitrogen removal, support to fisheries, sediment stabilization, and enhanced biodiversity. Language eng DOI 10.3389/fmars.2020.00403 Indigenous content off HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Free to Read? Yes Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30139347 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Open Access Collection Centre for Integrative Ecology Related Links Link Description Link to full-text (open access)     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 25 Jun 2020, 09:53:33 EST Fri, 26 Jun 2020, 05:00:25 EST Sun, 28 Jun 2020, 16:50:57 EST Thu, 02 Jul 2020, 06:03:50 EST Thu, 09 Jul 2020, 13:29:44 EST Thu, 09 Jul 2020, 13:32:37 EST Thu, 09 Jul 2020, 13:33:32 EST Sat, 17 Oct 2020, 01:31:00 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 1 times in TR Web of Science Cited 1 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 92 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Thu, 25 Jun 2020, 09:53:33 EST

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.