机构地区: 中国科学院生态环境研究中心城市与区域生态国家重点实验室
出 处: 《应用生态学报》 2014年第6期1825-1832,共8页
摘 要: 由海草、红树林、盐沼草等植被组成的滨海和海洋生态系统是地球中高效的碳汇热点,它们所固定的碳被称为"蓝碳".作为全球生态服务功能价值最高的生态系统之一,海草生态系统所固定的碳是蓝碳里的重要组成部分.高生产力、高效过滤及高稳定性造就了海草生态系统巨大的固碳能力,进而对全球碳循环具有深刻影响.然而,人为影响以及全球气候变化使全球海草床加速衰退,成为地球生物圈中退化速度最快的生态系统之一.当前,国内外对海草床等滨海生态系统固碳能力的关注、研究深度与广度仍远远不足,对全球海草固碳的评估仍存在诸多不确定性.为了能更准确地评估全球海草床的碳埋存,一些基础性的科学问题应优先考虑:1)全国和全球海草的准确分布面积;2)不同海草优势种类或不同地域的海草床碳汇能力的差异;3)人为干扰和全球气候变化对海草生态系统碳捕获和碳埋存的影响. The ocean's vegetated habitats, in particular seagrasses, mangroves and salt marshes, each capture and store a comparable amount of carbon per year, forming the Earth' s blue carbon sinks, the most intense carbon sinks on the planet. Seagrass meadows, characterized by high prima- ry productivity, efficient water column filtration and sediment stability, have a pronounced capacity for carbon sequestration. This is enhanced by low decomposition rates in anaerobic seagrass sedi- ments. The carbon captured by seagrass meadows contributes significantly to the total blue carbon. At a global scale, seagrass ecosystems are carbon sink hot spots and have profound influences on the global carbon cycle. This importance combined with the many other functions of seagrass meadows places them among the most valuable ecosystems in the world. Unfortunately, seagrasses are decli- ning globally at an alarming rate owing to anthropogenic disturbances and climate change, making them also among the most threatened ecosystems on the Earth. The role of coastal systems in carbon sequestration has received far too little attention and thus there are still many uncertainties in evalu- ating carbon sequestration of global seagrass meadows accurately. To better assess the carbon se- questration of global seagrass ecosystems, a number of scientific issues should be considered with high priorities: 1 ) more accurate measurements of seagrass coverage at national and global levels; 2) more comprehensive research into species- and location-specific carbon sequestration effieien- cies ; 3 ) in-depth exploration of the effects of human disturbance and global climate change on car- bon capture and storage by seagrass ecosystems.