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Predators help protect carbon stocks in blue carbon ecosystems

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 1038–1045 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Predators continue to be harvested unsustainably throughout most of the Earth's ecosystems. Recent research demonstrates that the functional loss of predators could have far-reaching consequences on carbon cycling and, by implication, our ability to ameliorate climate change impacts. Yet the influence of predators on carbon accumulation and preservation in vegetated coastal habitats (that is, salt marshes, seagrass meadows and mangroves) is poorly understood, despite these being some of the Earth's most vulnerable and carbon-rich ecosystems. Here we discuss potential pathways by which trophic downgrading affects carbon capture, accumulation and preservation in vegetated coastal habitats. We identify an urgent need for further research on the influence of predators on carbon cycling in vegetated coastal habitats, and ultimately the role that these systems play in climate change mitigation. There is, however, sufficient evidence to suggest that intact predator populations are critical to maintaining or growing reserves of 'blue carbon' (carbon stored in coastal or marine ecosystems), and policy and management need to be improved to reflect these realities.

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Figure 1: Global distribution of vegetated coastal ecosystems and documented cases of overgrazing, defoliation, and extreme bioturbation events in these systems.
Figure 2: Indirect effects of reduced predation pressure on C sequestration rates in salt marshes and mangroves, and C stocks in seagrass ecosystems.
Figure 3: Different priorities.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a working group grant from the Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University, the Climate Change Consortium for Wales (C3W), CSIRO Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster, and an Australian Research Council DECRA Grant awarded to P.I.M. (DE130101084). This is contribution no. 735 from the Southeast Environmental Research Center at Florida International University. We thank E. Hammill and R. Tackett for assistance with figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Change Institute, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Trisha B. Atwood & Catherine E. Lovelock

  2. Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, 84322-5210, Utah, USA

    Trisha B. Atwood

  3. Australian Rivers Institute – Coast & Estuaries, and School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 4222, Queensland, Australia

    Rod M. Connolly

  4. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, 3125, Victoria, Australia

    Euan G. Ritchie, Graeme C. Hays & Peter I. Macreadie

  5. School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Catherine E. Lovelock

  6. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, 33174, Florida, USA

    Michael R. Heithaus & James W. Fourqurean

  7. Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP, Swansea, UK

    Graeme C. Hays

  8. School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, 6009, Western Australia, Australia

    James W. Fourqurean

  9. Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, New South Wales, Australia

    Peter I. Macreadie

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All authors helped to conceive the manuscript. T.B.A. led the writing with contributions from all authors. T.B.A., R.C., C.L. and J.F. contributed to data analyses.

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Atwood, T., Connolly, R., Ritchie, E. et al. Predators help protect carbon stocks in blue carbon ecosystems. Nature Clim Change 5, 1038–1045 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2763

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