Blue Carbon LabBlue Carbon LabBlue Carbon LabBlue Carbon Lab
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
      • Professor Peter Macreadie
      • Dr Paul Carnell
      • Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett
      • Dr Maria del Mar Palacios
      • Dr Pawel Waryszak
      • Dr Melissa Wartman
      • Dr Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa
      • Dr Noyan Yilmaz
      • Dr Christina Birnbaum
      • Dr Martino Malerba
      • Dr Tiffany Sih
      • Dr Taryn Laubenstein
      • Dr Christina Asanopoulos
      • Dr Tanveer Adyel
      • Ashley Whitt
      • Katy Limpert
      • Holger Jänes
      • Giuditta Bonetti
      • Jaya Kelvin
      • Sarah Watson
      • Alejandro Navarro
      • Abbi Scott
      • Erlania
      • Yi Mei Tan
      • Oli Dalby
      • Interns and Volunteers
      • Alumni
  • Research
    • Wetland Carbon
      • Blue Carbon
        • Queensland Blue
        • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
        • Blue Carbon Management
      • Teal Carbon
        • Farm Dams
        • Teal Wetlands for Carbon Offsetting
        • Victoria’s Teal Carbon
      • TeaComposition H2O
    • Ecosystem Services
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Wetland Restoration
      • Kelp & Segrass restoration
      • Maximising Teal Carbon capture
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Publications
  • Vacancies
  • News
  • Live feed
  • Donate
  • Contact
MANAGEMENT OF BLUE CARBON SYSTEMS

Optimal management of coastal ecosystems for blue carbon sequestration

This ARC Linkage Project develops fundamental new knowledge of how Australia’s coastal ecosystems can be managed to achieve maximum carbon offset capacity into the future.

This research develops world-first decision tools that allow resource managers to predict how coastal management actions will affect the capacity of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon and optimise their management for the most cost-effective blue carbon returns. This research is critical for the inclusion of coastal carbon into natural resource management and into the national greenhouse gas accounts providing new societal and financial impetus for restoration and protection.

Program background

Removal of atmospheric CO2 through biosequestration is necessary to keep global warming under 2°C as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy. Among the most efficient systems for biosequestration are vegetated coastal habitats – seagrasses, saltmarshes and mangroves – known as ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems. Australia holds one of the world’s largest stores of blue carbon worth billions of dollars. However, degradation of coastal ecosystems is dramatically weakening this capacity, resulting in the release of ancient stored blue carbon into the atmosphere, thereby accelerating climate change.

Selected Media & Publications

Can we manage coastal ecosystems to sequester more blue carbon?
Macreadie PI, Nielsen DA, Kelleway JJ, Atwood T, Seymour J, Petrou K, Connolly RM, Thomson ACG, Trevathan-Tackett S, Ralph P (2017).
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 206-213.

Our research highlighted three management strategies (at the catchment-level) that hold promise for optimizing coastal blue carbon sequestration include: (1) reducing anthropocentric nutrient inputs, (2) reinstating top- down control of bioturbator populations, and (3) restoring hydrology by removing tidal flow restrictions and restoring fluvial inputs.

Project Partners

This work was led by Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab, involving partners from  The Nature Conservancy, Parks Victoria, and Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planing (DELWP).

Funding sources

This project was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant.

@BlueCarbonLab

Follow this program in social media using @BlueCarbonLab

Contact

A/Prof Peter Macreadie (p.macreadie@deakin.edu.au)

Progress

Completed
100%
Completed: 100%

Deakin University
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
      • Professor Peter Macreadie
      • Dr Paul Carnell
      • Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett
      • Dr Maria del Mar Palacios
      • Dr Pawel Waryszak
      • Dr Melissa Wartman
      • Dr Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa
      • Dr Noyan Yilmaz
      • Dr Christina Birnbaum
      • Dr Martino Malerba
      • Dr Tiffany Sih
      • Dr Taryn Laubenstein
      • Dr Christina Asanopoulos
      • Dr Tanveer Adyel
      • Ashley Whitt
      • Katy Limpert
      • Holger Jänes
      • Giuditta Bonetti
      • Jaya Kelvin
      • Sarah Watson
      • Alejandro Navarro
      • Abbi Scott
      • Erlania
      • Yi Mei Tan
      • Oli Dalby
      • Interns and Volunteers
      • Alumni
  • Research
    • Wetland Carbon
      • Blue Carbon
        • Queensland Blue
        • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
        • Blue Carbon Management
      • Teal Carbon
        • Farm Dams
        • Teal Wetlands for Carbon Offsetting
        • Victoria’s Teal Carbon
      • TeaComposition H2O
    • Ecosystem Services
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Wetland Restoration
      • Kelp & Segrass restoration
      • Maximising Teal Carbon capture
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Publications
  • Vacancies
  • News
  • Live feed
  • Donate
  • Contact
Blue Carbon Lab