A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention

Martin Dahl; Martin Gullström; Irene Bernabeu; Oscar Serrano; Carmen Leiva-Dueñas; Hans W. Linderholm; Maria E. Asplund; Mats Björk; Tinghai Ou; J. Robin Svensson; Elinor Andrén; Thomas Andrén; Sanne Bergman; Sara Braun; Anneli Eklöf; Zilvinas Ežerinskis; Andrius Garbaras; Petter Hällberg; Elin Löfgren; Malin E. Kylander; Pere Masqué; Justina Šapolaitė; Rienk Smittenberg; Miguel A. Mateo

doi:10.1029/2023GB008039

A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention

Martin Dahl^*, Martin Gullström, Irene Bernabeu, Oscar Serrano, Carmen Leiva-Dueñas, Hans W. Linderholm, Maria E. Asplund, Mats Björk, Tinghai Ou, J. Robin Svensson, Elinor Andrén, Thomas Andrén, Sanne Bergman, Sara Braun, Anneli Eklöf, Zilvinas Ežerinskis, Andrius Garbaras, Petter Hällberg, Elin Löfgren, Malin E. KylanderPere Masqué, Justina Šapolaitė, Rienk Smittenberg, Miguel A. Mateo

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Ecoscience - Marine Ecology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes that resulted in a shallow, sheltered environment favoring seagrass growth. Seagrass establishment led to up to 20- and 24-fold increases in sedimentary carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates, respectively. This demonstrates the capacity of seagrasses as efficient ecosystem engineers and their role in global change mitigation and adaptation through CO₂ removal, and nutrient and sediment retention. By combining regional climate projections and landscape models, we assessed potential climate change effects on seagrass growth, productivity and distribution until 2100. These predictions showed that seagrass meadows are mostly at risk from increased sedimentation and hydrodynamic changes, while the impact from sea level rise alone might be of less importance in the studied area. This study showcases the positive feedback between seagrass colonization and environmental conditions, which holds promise for successful conservation and restoration efforts aimed at supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the provision of several other crucial ecosystem services.

Original language	English
Article number	e2023GB008039
Journal	Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Volume	38
Issue	3
Number of pages	19
ISSN	0886-6236
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB008039
Publication status	Published - Mar 2024

Keywords

climate change
environmental change
millennial scale
nature-based solution
paleoreconstruction
seagrass

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10.1029/2023GB008039Licence: CC BY

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Dahl, M., Gullström, M., Bernabeu, I., Serrano, O., Leiva-Dueñas, C., Linderholm, H. W., Asplund, M. E., Björk, M., Ou, T., Svensson, J. R., Andrén, E., Andrén, T., Bergman, S., Braun, S., Eklöf, A., Ežerinskis, Z., Garbaras, A., Hällberg, P., Löfgren, E., ... Mateo, M. A. (2024). A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 38(3), Article e2023GB008039. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB008039

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title = "A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention",

abstract = "Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes that resulted in a shallow, sheltered environment favoring seagrass growth. Seagrass establishment led to up to 20- and 24-fold increases in sedimentary carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates, respectively. This demonstrates the capacity of seagrasses as efficient ecosystem engineers and their role in global change mitigation and adaptation through CO2 removal, and nutrient and sediment retention. By combining regional climate projections and landscape models, we assessed potential climate change effects on seagrass growth, productivity and distribution until 2100. These predictions showed that seagrass meadows are mostly at risk from increased sedimentation and hydrodynamic changes, while the impact from sea level rise alone might be of less importance in the studied area. This study showcases the positive feedback between seagrass colonization and environmental conditions, which holds promise for successful conservation and restoration efforts aimed at supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the provision of several other crucial ecosystem services.",

keywords = "climate change, environmental change, millennial scale, nature-based solution, paleoreconstruction, seagrass",

author = "Martin Dahl and Martin Gullstr{\"o}m and Irene Bernabeu and Oscar Serrano and Carmen Leiva-Due{\~n}as and Linderholm, {Hans W.} and Asplund, {Maria E.} and Mats Bj{\"o}rk and Tinghai Ou and Svensson, {J. Robin} and Elinor Andr{\'e}n and Thomas Andr{\'e}n and Sanne Bergman and Sara Braun and Anneli Ekl{\"o}f and Zilvinas E{\v z}erinskis and Andrius Garbaras and Petter H{\"a}llberg and Elin L{\"o}fgren and Kylander, {Malin E.} and Pere Masqu{\'e} and Justina {\v S}apolaitė and Rienk Smittenberg and Mateo, {Miguel A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024. The Authors.",

year = "2024",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1029/2023GB008039",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

journal = "Global Biogeochemical Cycles",

issn = "0886-6236",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "3",

}

Dahl, M, Gullström, M, Bernabeu, I, Serrano, O, Leiva-Dueñas, C, Linderholm, HW, Asplund, ME, Björk, M, Ou, T, Svensson, JR, Andrén, E, Andrén, T, Bergman, S, Braun, S, Eklöf, A, Ežerinskis, Z, Garbaras, A, Hällberg, P, Löfgren, E, Kylander, ME, Masqué, P, Šapolaitė, J, Smittenberg, R & Mateo, MA 2024, 'A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention', Global Biogeochemical Cycles, vol. 38, no. 3, e2023GB008039. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB008039

A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention. / Dahl, Martin; Gullström, Martin; Bernabeu, Irene et al.
In: Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 38, No. 3, e2023GB008039, 03.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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T1 - A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention

AU - Dahl, Martin

AU - Gullström, Martin

AU - Bernabeu, Irene

AU - Serrano, Oscar

AU - Leiva-Dueñas, Carmen

AU - Linderholm, Hans W.

AU - Asplund, Maria E.

AU - Björk, Mats

AU - Ou, Tinghai

AU - Svensson, J. Robin

AU - Andrén, Elinor

AU - Andrén, Thomas

AU - Bergman, Sanne

AU - Braun, Sara

AU - Eklöf, Anneli

AU - Ežerinskis, Zilvinas

AU - Garbaras, Andrius

AU - Hällberg, Petter

AU - Löfgren, Elin

AU - Kylander, Malin E.

AU - Masqué, Pere

AU - Šapolaitė, Justina

AU - Smittenberg, Rienk

AU - Mateo, Miguel A.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes that resulted in a shallow, sheltered environment favoring seagrass growth. Seagrass establishment led to up to 20- and 24-fold increases in sedimentary carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates, respectively. This demonstrates the capacity of seagrasses as efficient ecosystem engineers and their role in global change mitigation and adaptation through CO2 removal, and nutrient and sediment retention. By combining regional climate projections and landscape models, we assessed potential climate change effects on seagrass growth, productivity and distribution until 2100. These predictions showed that seagrass meadows are mostly at risk from increased sedimentation and hydrodynamic changes, while the impact from sea level rise alone might be of less importance in the studied area. This study showcases the positive feedback between seagrass colonization and environmental conditions, which holds promise for successful conservation and restoration efforts aimed at supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the provision of several other crucial ecosystem services.

AB - Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes that resulted in a shallow, sheltered environment favoring seagrass growth. Seagrass establishment led to up to 20- and 24-fold increases in sedimentary carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates, respectively. This demonstrates the capacity of seagrasses as efficient ecosystem engineers and their role in global change mitigation and adaptation through CO2 removal, and nutrient and sediment retention. By combining regional climate projections and landscape models, we assessed potential climate change effects on seagrass growth, productivity and distribution until 2100. These predictions showed that seagrass meadows are mostly at risk from increased sedimentation and hydrodynamic changes, while the impact from sea level rise alone might be of less importance in the studied area. This study showcases the positive feedback between seagrass colonization and environmental conditions, which holds promise for successful conservation and restoration efforts aimed at supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the provision of several other crucial ecosystem services.

KW - climate change

KW - environmental change

KW - millennial scale

KW - nature-based solution

KW - paleoreconstruction

KW - seagrass

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187910776&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1029/2023GB008039

DO - 10.1029/2023GB008039

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85187910776

SN - 0886-6236

VL - 38

JO - Global Biogeochemical Cycles

JF - Global Biogeochemical Cycles

IS - 3

M1 - e2023GB008039

ER -

A 2,000-Year Record of Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains in Blue Carbon Storage and Nutrient Retention

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Keywords

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