The objectives of this synthesis report were to summarise the series of reports in order to provide (1) information on the current extent and distribution of blue carbon habitats, including seabed sediments and coastal vegetated habitats, (2) estimates of the quantity of carbon currently stored across the four assessment regions, (3) assessments of the average net sequestration rate (g C/m2/yr), a. [...] • The Scotland Region covers an area of 617,000 km2 (including 462,000 km2 of the UK’s EEZ), representing 70% of the UK’s sea area; the English North Sea Region covers an area of 114,000 km2, representing 13% of the total; the English Channel and Western Approaches Region covers an area of 111,000 km2, representing 13% of the total; and the Irish Sea and Welsh Coast Region, including the Welsh coa. [...] Such habitats present in the area are identified and reviewed with regard to their potential to capture and store carbon, focusing on the ecology of the key carbon-fixing and habitat-forming species, the dynamics of physical habitats, and quantitative estimates of carbon in long-term stores and of rates of carbon fluxes. [...] Assessment of carbon sequestration and storage follows the sequence of combining estimates of area with habitat-specific rates of production, loss, import and export of carbon, and thence area-specific rates of sequestration, to give area-integrated estimates of the total amount of carbon locked away by biological activity in the coastal and marine zones of the UK. [...] 2.1.3 Seabed habitats and sediment types and their rates of accumulation of organic carbon All the estimates of the rates of sequestration of OC across regions and types of MPA in this series of reports were based on mapped information on the distribution of seabed types (see Table 2).
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Table of Contents
- Assessment of Marine Carbon Storage and Sequestration Potential in UK Seas (Including Within Marine Protected Areas): Executive Summary for Policymakers 4
- Main Findings 4
- 1 Introduction to the UK Blue Carbon Assessment 11
- 1.1 Background and rationale 11
- 1.2 Project objectives 12
- 1.3 GIS methods 13
- 1.3.1 Data sources for habitats and marine protected areas (MPAs) 14
- 1.3.2 MPA carbon in long-term stores 14
- 1.3.3 MPA carbon accumulation from habitat-specific assimilation rates 14
- 2 Blue Carbon Habitats of the UK 15
- 2.1 Seabed sediments 15
- 2.1.1 Carbon in long-term stores 15
- 2.1.2 Sediment thickness and sediment carbon in long-term stores 17
- 2.1.3 Seabed habitats and sediment types and their rates of accumulation of organic carbon 22
- 2.2 Coastal vegetated habitats: blue carbon habitats sensu stricto 25
- 2.2.1 Estimating habitat extents 25
- 2.2.2 Carbon in long-term stores and rates of accumulation 28
- 2.2.3 Saltmarsh 31
- 2.2.4 Kelp forests 33
- 2.2.5 Intertidal seaweeds 35
- 2.2.6 Seagrass 37
- 2.2.7 Maerl 39
- 3 Carbon Stores and Accumulation Rates in UK Marine Protected Areas 41
- 3.1 Habitat extents within MPAs of the UK 41
- 3.2 Stored carbon in the MPAs of the UK and the Isle of Man Territorial Seas 44
- 3.3 Rates of carbon accumulation across the MPAs of the UK and the Isle of Man Territorial Seas 48
- 4 Ecosystem-Scale Carbon Budget 50
- 4.1 Organic carbon 50
- 4.1.1 Uncertainty about total UK organic carbon accumulation rate due to parameter uncertainty 52
- 4.1.2 Overestimation of organic carbon accumulation rate in sublittoral mud 53
- 4.2 Inorganic carbon 57
- 5 Risks to Carbon in Long-Term Stores in the UK 58
- 5.1 Climate change and associated impacts 58
- 5.2 Disturbance by mobile fishing gear 58
- 6 References 60
- 7 Glossary 68
- Annex 1. Sources for Habitat Data 69
