Why do grasslands have high resilience and why is it so important that we protect sea grass meadows for mitigating climate change?
Grasslands store the bulk of their material underground, in roots that can reach as far as 20 feet deep. This unseen physical presence is how they can store a lot of carbon—about a third of all carbon stored on land and remain resilient to fire and other ecological disturbances. By sequestering carbon and protecting shorelines, sea grass can help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. Healthy sea grass meadows are a nature-based solution to many threats facing coastal waters and communities, including climate change. Sea grass communities are one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems. They provide habitats and nursery grounds for many marine animals, and act as substrate stabilizers. Sea grass meadows are important as they provide sheltered refuges and feeding areas for prawns and juvenile fish.
Sea grass accounts for 10% of the ocean's capacity to store carbon, despite occupying only 0.2% of the sea floor. It can capture carbon from the atmosphere up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. These ecosystems store carbon mainly through Sedimentation Sea grasses reduce the energy of ocean waves, slowing down the flow of water and causing sediments to accumulate. These sediments trap organic matter and other sources of carbon, keeping it from re-entering the atmosphere. Sea grasses provide food, shelter, and essential nursery areas to commercial and recreational fishery species and to countless invertebrates living in sea grass communities. A primary effect of increased global temperature on sea grasses will be the alteration of growth rates and other physiological functions of the plants themselves. The distribution of sea grasses will shift as a result of increased temperature stress and changes in the patterns of sexual reproduction. Salt marshes, mangroves, and sea grass beds absorb large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it, thus decreasing the effects of global warming. These types of habitat are known as carbon sinks and contain large stores of carbon accumulated over hundreds to thousands of years. One-third of all terrestrially stored carbon lies underground in the roots of grasslands, which can stretch down as far as 20 feet. It is one of the reasons they are so resilient in the face of ecological disruptions like fires.They're very resilient to a lot of these threats that we're increasingly experiencing. Grasslands are resilient and can deliver well in terms of our priorities of carbon storage, water infiltration and soil health," said Suding.
Sea grass also has an incredible ability that helps fight climate change – a huge capacity for carbon absorption. Sea grasses act as a dense sediment trap, capturing carbon and storing it, eventually depositing it onto the seafloor. Sea grasses are found in shallow salt water around the world, from the tropics to the arctic. As carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase and sea grass meadows are important to mitigation because they have high rates of carbon storage. Increased water depth, which reduces the amount of light reaching existing sea grass beds, will directly reduce plant productivity where plants are light limited. Sea grass communities are one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems. They provide habitats and nursery grounds for many marine animals, and act as substrate stabilizers. In northern Australia, sea grass meadows are important as they provide sheltered refuges and feeding areas for prawns and juvenile fish. Salt marshes, mangroves, and sea grass beds absorb large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it, thus decreasing the effects of global warming. These types of habitat are known as carbon sinks and contain large stores of carbon accumulated over hundreds to thousands of years. One-third of all terrestrially stored carbon lies underground in the roots of grasslands, which can stretch down as far as 20 feet. It is one of the reasons they are so resilient in the face of ecological disruptions like fires."They're very resilient to a lot of these threats that we're increasingly experiencing. Grasslands are resilient and can deliver well in terms of our priorities of carbon storage, water infiltration and soil health," said Suding. Ecosystems that are more complex are more resilient, or better able to tolerate and recover from disturbances, than ecosystems that are less complex. To help illustrate why this is, imagine a complex ecosystem with many components and many interactions between those components.