Blue carbon research: An Indian Perspective
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The document authored by Dr. Gurmeet Singh discusses climate change mitigation through the conservation of blue carbon ecosystems, particularly mangroves and seagrasses, which play a crucial role in carbon sequestration. It highlights the declining state of these ecosystems due to habitat loss and stresses the urgent need for restoration and protection measures. Additionally, it provides data on carbon accumulation rates and species diversity in Indian mangrove ecosystems, emphasizing their importance as carbon sinks.
Blue carbon research: An Indian Perspective
- 1. Dr GURMEET SINGH Futuristic Research Division National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate change [email protected]
- 2. • Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences (2010), School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India • Scientist, National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt. of India • Climate Change mitigation & Coastal Ecosystem, • Blue carbon studies (seagrass and mangrove ecosystems) • Nutrient budgeting in Indian estuaries • Coastal Zone Management • Waste management https://www.ncscm.res.in
- 3. Source of Data Research carried out by NCSCM in Indian coastal ecosystem, unless specified other wise Special volume : Seagrass Ecosystems of India Eds. E. Vivekanandan, Ramesh Ramachandran, T. Thangaradjou Volume 159,Pages 1-56 (1 June 2018)
- 4. Blue carbon research: An Indian Perspective • Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems • Mangroves of India • Emissions and Uptake • Carbon burial • Seagrass of India • Overview • Emissions and Uptake • Carbon burial • Key messages
- 5. Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems • Global average atmospheric CO2 concentration • >400 parts per million • Highest in past 800,000 years • Global climate Change • Rise in atmospheric temperature • Global mean sea level rise
- 6. Climate Change and Coastal Ecosystems • Mitigation approaches include • Conservation of natural ecosystems with high C sequestration rates and capacity • Blue Carbon Ecosystems (mangroves and seagrass) • Play a vital role in the global carbon sequestration • Long term storage as biomass produced and buried in sediments Oceans can sequester more than one third of the anthropogenic carbon
- 7. Carbon burial rates (Mg C ha-1 y-1) of different (terrestrial and Coastal & marine) vegetative ecosystems (redrawn from Mcleod et al., 2011)
- 8. Blue Carbon Ecosystems • Role of blue carbon ecosystems in mitigating climate change ▪ Contribution to long-term C sequestration >>terrestrial forests ▪ Seagrass 500 t CO2e/ha, ▪ Estuarine mangroves 1,060 t CO2e/ha and ▪ Oceanic mangroves 1,800 t CO2e/ha Seagrass meadows occupy < 0.2% of the area of the world’s oceans, Contribute 10% of the yearly Corg burial in the oceans
- 9. Blue Carbon Ecosystems: Need for Conservation • During past decades- • Cumulative losses of coastal vegetation ~ 25–50% of total global area • Estimated Annual Loss varying from 0.5% to 3% (Pendleton et al, 2012). • Causes of habitat conversion varies around the world - • Transformation of mangrove areas to aquaculture and agriculture, • Exploitation of forest resources, • Conversion of mangrove ecosystems for industrial and urban development • Action is urgently required to prevent further degradation and loss of such key ecosystems. • Recognizing the C sequestration value these ecosystems provide, there is a strong need for their protection and restoration
- 10. Blue Carbon: Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving coastal vegetative ecosystem www.anl.com.au Rationalization of data set Diverse methodology Difficult to compare
- 11. Mangrove ecosystems of India
- 12. Mangrove species diversity and distribution in India State/UT Mangrove Diversity East Coast of India Sundarban 33 true mangrove species; 21 genera and 14 families Bhitarkanika 35 true mangrove species; 20 genera and 14 families Coringa 22 true mangrove species; 15 genera and 11 families Kaveri delta 17 true mangrove species; 12 genera and 8 families Puducherry 15 true mangrove species; 10 genera and 7 families West Coast of India Gujarat 15 species; 10 genera and 6 families Daman and Diu 4 species; 4 genera and 4 families Maharashtra 22 species; 15 genera and 11 families Goa 16 true mangrove species; 11 genera and 7 families Karnataka 16 species; 11 genera and 7 families Kerala 19 mangrove species; 12 genera and 8 families Islands of India Andaman and Nicobar 38 mangrove species 13 families and 19 genera Lakshadweep 8 species belonging to 5 genera and 3 families
- 13. GHG emissions from mangroves State-wise % contribution of CO2 fluxes from mangrove ecosystems (Flux values are represented as Gg CO2e y-1)
- 14. GHG emissions from mangroves State-wise % contribution of CH4 fluxes from mangrove ecosystems (Flux values are represented as Gg CO2e y-1)
- 15. Carbon uptake by Mangrove ecosystems • Net primary production (NPP) is the first visible step in carbon accumulation that is quantified as the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into plant biomass • Highly productive and diverse mangrove species with dense crown cover observed Sundarban, Bhitarkanika, Coringa and Pichavaram along the east coast • Net carbon uptake rate in mangrove of east coast varied between 3.26 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 to 35.44 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 • Net carbon uptake rate was highest in Heritiera fomes - Excoecaria agallocha - Avicennia marina community in the eastern part of Sundarbans. • In Pichavaram, average carbon uptake rate of Avicennia was 28.8 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. • Compared to east coast, mangroves of west coast are patchy and less diverse and composed mainly of single species zonation. • Carbon uptake rates were comparatively lower (2.33 --26.98 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 ) in mangroves of west coast
- 16. Carbon burial as mangrove biomass • Overall annual accumulation rate of carbon as live biomass in Sundarban is reported as 4.71– 6.54 Mg C ha−1 y−1 (Ray et al., 2011) • In Bhitarkanika, Exocaria agallocha (tree density 3585/ha) and Hertiera fomes (tree density 2011/ha) with high basal area that dominated the overall canopy (Mishra et al., 2005, Upadhyay and Mishra, 2014). • Highest carbon sequestration rates observed from mangroves of south Gujarat (180.24 Mg ha- 1) followed by Saurashtra (83.42 Mg ha-1) and Gulf of Kachchh (82.90 Mg ha-1) (Pandey and Pandey, 2013). • Highest carbon stock per unit area is observed from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- 17. Carbon stock in Indian mangroves Total Sediment Carbon Stocks (Gg) from Indian Mangrove Ecosystems SOC ???
- 18. Carbon stock in Indian mangroves Total Sediment Carbon Stocks (mg/ha) from Indian Mangrove Ecosystems SOC ???
- 19. Characterizing Carbon • Variations mangrove biomass and carbon density in 12 mangrove species were quantified to understand the potential of carbon storage in the live mangrove biomass • Inter-species variations were estimated in : • mangrove stem biomass, • ligno-cellulose content and • elemental composition — The lowest carbon density and highest ratio of cellulose/lignin in the Sonneratia apetala and Sonneratia caeseolaris species indicated faster growth among all the studied species. — Avicennia officinalis and Heritiera fomes were identified with higher AGBs and carbon storage potentials. — Hertiera littoralis and Kandelia candel with relatively higher lignin content with respect to cellulose showed greater potentials to sustain biotic and abiotic stresses, and higher recalcitrant biomass.
- 20. Seagrasses • Angiosperms (flowering plants) that live life entirely underwater https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/seagrass-and-seagrass-beds
- 22. Habitat and Nursery ground Food for Dugongs, Turtle & Swans Factors Affecting Seagrass Distribution •Temperature •Salinity •Waves •Currents •Depth •Subsratum •Day length • Light • Nutrients • Epiphytes • Disease
- 23. Seagrass plays an important role in •Provide a natural sea defence by trapping sediment •Provides a nursery ground for many commercial fish •Carbon sequestration •Produces the oxygen (oxygen pump) •Promoters of biologica productivity and biodiversity •Improve the water quality •mportant elements of coastal protection Seagrass Biodiversity
- 24. Low DIC fluxes Increased calcification rates DRY SEASON/HIGH SEAGRASS BIOMASS Increase in pH High photosynthetic uptake of DIC HighO2 Pumping Autotrophicseagrass with increased DIC uptake and increased pH Carbon burial Bicarbonate Dissolution TA Carbon burial Increased DIC fluxes Reduced calcification rates WET SEASON/ LOW SEAGRASS BIOMASS No significant change in pH Reduced photosynthetic uptake of DIC Less O2 Pumping Hetrotrophic seagrass with reduced DIC uptake TA Carbon sequestration in Seagrass Ecosystem
- 25. Distribution of Major Seagrass Ecosystems in India Ecosystem Area * (sq. km) Palk Bay 175.20 Gulf of Mannar 85.50 Chilika lagoon 85.00 Lakshadweep 2.20 A&N Islands 8.30 Gulf of Kachchh 6.26 Total 357.46
- 26. Seagrass Productivity and Carbon storage
- 27. GHG Emission by seagrass ecosystem Net Emission (Gg CO2 equivalent) from major Indian seagrass ecosystems (Areal extent Palk Bay 330 km2 and Chilika 75 km2, ~80% of the total cover 517 km2)
- 28. GHG emissions : Mangroves vs seagrass Comparison of Net Emission (Gg CO2 equivalent) from studied Indian Blue carbon ecosystems (Total mangrove and seagrass cover 5,403 km2 and 517 km2, respectively)
- 29. -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Halophyla + Halodule Halodule sp. Non seagrass Halophyla + Halodule Halodule sp. Non seagrass Dry Wet mmol C /m2/day Gross Productivity Respiration Net Productivity Increased fresh water input results in the dominance of respiration processes in seagrass Phytoplankton Productivity Seagrass Productivity
- 30. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 Cymodocea sp. Cymodocea & Syringodium Cymodocea sp. Cymodocea & Syringodium Dry Wet mmol C /m2/day Gross Productivity Respiration Net Productivity Seagrass productivity is much higher than water column productivity Productivity in Seagrass Ecosystem Water column productivity Water column respiration Primary Productivity
- 31. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 Cymodocea sp. Cymodocea & Syringodium Cymodocea sp. Cymodocea & Syringodium Dry Wet mmol C /m2/day Gross Productivity Respiration Net Productivity Water column productivity Water column respiration Seagrass productivity is much higher than water column productivity Chilika Seagrass Productivity Seagrass Productivity Palk Bay
- 32. • Central Sector and Southern sector : Autotrophic during dry season . • Outer channel : Heterotrophic throughout the year • Higher rate of biological carbon sequestrations during dry season -400 -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 Northern Sector Central Sector Outer Channer Southern Sector NEM (P-R) Dry Wet -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 NEM (P-R) Dry Wet -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 Northern Sector Central Sector Outer Channer Southern Sector NEM (P-R) Dry Wet Chilika Role of seagrass in trophic state
- 33. Phytoplankton NCP (phytoplankton) = 3-12 mmol C m-2d-1 Seagrass NCPseagrass = 65-232 mmol Cm-2 d-1 Net Community Productivity of Seagrass > >Phytoplankton productivity Potential Carbon Sinks
- 35. • Efficient transport and storage of sequestered carbon from the above ground to below ground part • Sediment carbon content is high in top 30 cm, suggesting active zone for carbon storage • Store the sequestered C for million of years and act as a potential CO2 sink 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0.00 1.00 2.00 Depth in cm Sediment organic carbon (%) Carbon Burial
- 36. Chilika Carbon Budgets in Chilika Lagoon Chilika ( Seagrass area : 85 km2) Water column DIC =0.013 Tg C 0.06 Tg C y-1 Burial rates 2 m 1 m Sediments 0.76 Tg C Below Ground Biomass 0.008 Tg C Above Ground Biomass 0.002 Tg C 0.08 Tg C y-1 Respiration
- 37. Carbon Budget in Palk Bay
- 38. INDIA
- 39. To Summarize
- 40. Wetlands and submerged aquatic vegetation including marshes, mangroves, and seagrass contribute significantly to the global stored carbon sink (IPCC, 2006) Ecosystem Global area (Mha) Global Carbon burial (Tg C Yr-1) Annual rate of Global loss (%) Seagrasses Mangroves Salt marshes 17.7 to 60 13.8 to 15.2 2.2 to 40.0 48 to 112 31.1 to 34.4 4.8 to 87.2 ~7 ~0.7 to 3 ~1 to 2 Mcleod et al., 2011 A blue print for blue carbon
- 41. Comparison of sediment organic carbon stocks in major forest ecosystem of India (Khurana, 2012 and NCSCM study).
- 42. Key Outcome Mangrove Seagrass Net C accrual per hectare per year 1.69 Mg 1.66 Mg Additional CO2 sink by increasing 20% area cover per year ~669 Gg ~84.4 Gg Restoration of 100 ha of stressed/ degraded ecosystem will reduce CO2 emissions per year by 144 Gg 52.2 Gg
- 44. Thank You