Carbon burial in sediments below seaweed farms matches that of Blue Carbon habitats

Carlos M. Duarte (), Antonio Delgado-Huertas, Elisa Marti, Beat Gasser, Isidro San Martin, Alexandra Cousteau, Fritz Neumeyer, Megan Reilly-Cayten, Joshua Boyce, Tomohiro Kuwae, Masakazu Hori, Toshihiro Miyajima, Nichole N. Price, Suzanne Arnold, Aurora M. Ricart, Simon Davis, Noumie Surugau, Al-Jeria Abdul, Jiaping Wu, Xi Xiao, Ik Kyo Chung, Chang Geun Choi, Calvyn F. A. Sondak, Hatim Albasri, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Annette Bruhn, Teis Boderskov, Kasper Hancke, Jon Funderud, Ana R. Borrero-Santiago, Fred Pascal, Paul Joanne, Lanto Ranivoarivelo, William T. Collins, Jennifer Clark, Juan Fermin Gutierrez, Ricardo Riquelme, Marcela Avila, Peter I. Macreadie and Pere Masque
Additional contact information
Carlos M. Duarte: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Antonio Delgado-Huertas: CSIC and Universidad de Granada
Elisa Marti: University of Cadiz
Beat Gasser: International Atomic Energy Agency—Marine Environment Laboratories (IAEA-MEL)
Isidro San Martin: Oceans 2050 Foundation
Alexandra Cousteau: Oceans 2050 Foundation
Fritz Neumeyer: Oceans 2050 Foundation
Megan Reilly-Cayten: Oceans 2050 Foundation
Joshua Boyce: Oceans 2050 Foundation
Tomohiro Kuwae: Port and Airport Research Institute
Masakazu Hori: Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency
Toshihiro Miyajima: University of Tokyo
Nichole N. Price: Colby College
Suzanne Arnold: Island Institute
Aurora M. Ricart: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Simon Davis: Seadling
Noumie Surugau: Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Al-Jeria Abdul: Seadling
Jiaping Wu: Zhejiang University
Xi Xiao: Zhejiang University
Ik Kyo Chung: Pusan National University
Chang Geun Choi: Pukyong National University
Calvyn F. A. Sondak: Sam Ratulangi University
Hatim Albasri: National Research and Innovation Agency
Dorte Krause-Jensen: Aarhus University
Annette Bruhn: Aarhus University
Teis Boderskov: Aarhus University
Kasper Hancke: Norwegian Institute for Water Research
Jon Funderud: Seaweed Solutions AS
Ana R. Borrero-Santiago: Seaweed Solutions AS
Fred Pascal: Ocean Farmers
Paul Joanne: Ocean Farmers
Lanto Ranivoarivelo: University of Toliara
William T. Collins: Cascadia Seaweed
Jennifer Clark: Cascadia Seaweed
Juan Fermin Gutierrez: Facultad de Recursos Naturales y Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Santo Tomás
Ricardo Riquelme: Facultad de Recursos Naturales y Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Santo Tomás
Marcela Avila: Facultad de Recursos Naturales y Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Santo Tomás
Peter I. Macreadie: School of Science, RMIT University
Pere Masque: International Atomic Energy Agency—Marine Environment Laboratories (IAEA-MEL)

Nature Climate Change, 2025, vol. 15, issue 2, 180-187

Abstract: Abstract Seaweed farming has emerged as a potential Blue Carbon strategy, yet empirical estimates of carbon burial from such farms remain lacking in the literature. Here, we quantify carbon burial in 20 seaweed farms distributed globally, ranging from 2 to 300 years in operation and from 1 to 15,000 ha in size. The thickness of sediment layers and stocks of organic carbon accumulated below the farms increased with farm age, reaching 140 tC ha−1 for the oldest farm. Organic carbon burial rates averaged 1.87 ± 0.73 tCO2e ha−1 yr−1 in farm sediments, twice that in reference sediments. The excess CO2e burial attributable to the seaweed farms averaged 1.06 ± 0.74 CO2e ha−1 yr−1, confirming that seaweed farming in depositional environments buries carbon in the underlying sediments at rates towards the low range of that of Blue Carbon habitats, but increasing with farm age.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02238-1

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