Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2014

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Symbol B (Biogeosciences) » B-BG Biogeosciences & Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions

[B-BG21_1AM1] Material cycles in tropical- subtropical coastal ecosystems

Thu. May 1, 2014 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM 213 (2F)

Convener:*Atsushi Watanabe(Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering Tokyo Institute of Technology), Kazuhiko Fujita(Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of the Ryukyus), Chuki Hongo(Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus), Chair:Atsushi Watanabe(Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering Tokyo Institute of Technology), Kazuhiko Fujita(Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of the Ryukyus), Chuki Hongo(Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus)

10:00 AM - 10:15 AM

★ [BBG21-05] Carbon flows in estuarine and shallow waters: blue carbon study

*Tomohiro KUWAE1, Tatsuki TOKORO1, Kenta WATANABE1, Eiichi MIYOSHI1, Hirotada MOKI1, Kazufumi TADA2 (1.Port and Airport Research Institute, 2.Chuden Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd.)

Keywords:climate change, carbon sequestration, carbon storage, blue carbon, seagrass meadows, estuarine waters

Blue Carbon, which is carbon captured by marine living organisms, has recently been highlighted as a new option for climate change mitigation initiatives. In particular, coastal ecosystems have been recognized as significant carbon stocks because of their high burial rates and long-term sequestration of carbon. However, unlike sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, coastal carbon burial does not lead directly to an uptake of atmospheric CO2. This is because the water column separates the atmosphere from benthic systems, and buried sedimentary carbon is composed of allochthonous sources in addition to autochthonous sources. Our research project is aiming to in situ measurements of carbon flows, including air-sea CO2 fluxes, dissolved inorganic carbon changes, net ecosystem production, and carbon burial rates in estuarine and shallow waters.