Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition.
Cycling of organic carbon in the ocean has the potential to mitigate or exacerbate global climate change, but major questions remain about the environmental controls on organic carbon flux in the coastal zone. Here, we used a field experiment distributed across 28° of latitude, and the entire range...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-08-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001702 |
| _version_ | 1797770759972585472 |
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| author | Karen Filbee-Dexter Colette J Feehan Dan A Smale Kira A Krumhansl Skye Augustine Florian de Bettignies Michael T Burrows Jarrett E K Byrnes Jillian Campbell Dominique Davoult Kenneth H Dunton João N Franco Ignacio Garrido Sean P Grace Kasper Hancke Ladd E Johnson Brenda Konar Pippa J Moore Kjell Magnus Norderhaug Alasdair O'Dell Morten F Pedersen Anne K Salomon Isabel Sousa-Pinto Scott Tiegs Dara Yiu Thomas Wernberg |
| author_facet | Karen Filbee-Dexter Colette J Feehan Dan A Smale Kira A Krumhansl Skye Augustine Florian de Bettignies Michael T Burrows Jarrett E K Byrnes Jillian Campbell Dominique Davoult Kenneth H Dunton João N Franco Ignacio Garrido Sean P Grace Kasper Hancke Ladd E Johnson Brenda Konar Pippa J Moore Kjell Magnus Norderhaug Alasdair O'Dell Morten F Pedersen Anne K Salomon Isabel Sousa-Pinto Scott Tiegs Dara Yiu Thomas Wernberg |
| author_sort | Karen Filbee-Dexter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cycling of organic carbon in the ocean has the potential to mitigate or exacerbate global climate change, but major questions remain about the environmental controls on organic carbon flux in the coastal zone. Here, we used a field experiment distributed across 28° of latitude, and the entire range of 2 dominant kelp species in the northern hemisphere, to measure decomposition rates of kelp detritus on the seafloor in relation to local environmental factors. Detritus decomposition in both species were strongly related to ocean temperature and initial carbon content, with higher rates of biomass loss at lower latitudes with warmer temperatures. Our experiment showed slow overall decomposition and turnover of kelp detritus and modeling of coastal residence times at our study sites revealed that a significant portion of this production can remain intact long enough to reach deep marine sinks. The results suggest that decomposition of these kelp species could accelerate with ocean warming and that low-latitude kelp forests could experience the greatest increase in remineralization with a 9% to 42% reduced potential for transport to long-term ocean sinks under short-term (RCP4.5) and long-term (RCP8.5) warming scenarios. However, slow decomposition at high latitudes, where kelp abundance is predicted to expand, indicates potential for increasing kelp-carbon sinks in cooler (northern) regions. Our findings reveal an important latitudinal gradient in coastal ecosystem function that provides an improved capacity to predict the implications of ocean warming on carbon cycling. Broad-scale patterns in organic carbon decomposition revealed here can be used to identify hotspots of carbon sequestration potential and resolve relationships between carbon cycling processes and ocean climate at a global scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:27:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b48237f33d0942878a0913765ebf0676 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:27:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b48237f33d0942878a0913765ebf06762023-07-28T05:30:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852022-08-01208e300170210.1371/journal.pbio.3001702Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition.Karen Filbee-DexterColette J FeehanDan A SmaleKira A KrumhanslSkye AugustineFlorian de BettigniesMichael T BurrowsJarrett E K ByrnesJillian CampbellDominique DavoultKenneth H DuntonJoão N FrancoIgnacio GarridoSean P GraceKasper HanckeLadd E JohnsonBrenda KonarPippa J MooreKjell Magnus NorderhaugAlasdair O'DellMorten F PedersenAnne K SalomonIsabel Sousa-PintoScott TiegsDara YiuThomas WernbergCycling of organic carbon in the ocean has the potential to mitigate or exacerbate global climate change, but major questions remain about the environmental controls on organic carbon flux in the coastal zone. Here, we used a field experiment distributed across 28° of latitude, and the entire range of 2 dominant kelp species in the northern hemisphere, to measure decomposition rates of kelp detritus on the seafloor in relation to local environmental factors. Detritus decomposition in both species were strongly related to ocean temperature and initial carbon content, with higher rates of biomass loss at lower latitudes with warmer temperatures. Our experiment showed slow overall decomposition and turnover of kelp detritus and modeling of coastal residence times at our study sites revealed that a significant portion of this production can remain intact long enough to reach deep marine sinks. The results suggest that decomposition of these kelp species could accelerate with ocean warming and that low-latitude kelp forests could experience the greatest increase in remineralization with a 9% to 42% reduced potential for transport to long-term ocean sinks under short-term (RCP4.5) and long-term (RCP8.5) warming scenarios. However, slow decomposition at high latitudes, where kelp abundance is predicted to expand, indicates potential for increasing kelp-carbon sinks in cooler (northern) regions. Our findings reveal an important latitudinal gradient in coastal ecosystem function that provides an improved capacity to predict the implications of ocean warming on carbon cycling. Broad-scale patterns in organic carbon decomposition revealed here can be used to identify hotspots of carbon sequestration potential and resolve relationships between carbon cycling processes and ocean climate at a global scale.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001702 |
| spellingShingle | Karen Filbee-Dexter Colette J Feehan Dan A Smale Kira A Krumhansl Skye Augustine Florian de Bettignies Michael T Burrows Jarrett E K Byrnes Jillian Campbell Dominique Davoult Kenneth H Dunton João N Franco Ignacio Garrido Sean P Grace Kasper Hancke Ladd E Johnson Brenda Konar Pippa J Moore Kjell Magnus Norderhaug Alasdair O'Dell Morten F Pedersen Anne K Salomon Isabel Sousa-Pinto Scott Tiegs Dara Yiu Thomas Wernberg Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. PLoS Biology |
| title | Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. |
| title_full | Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. |
| title_fullStr | Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. |
| title_short | Kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition. |
| title_sort | kelp carbon sink potential decreases with warming due to accelerating decomposition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001702 |
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