Date of this Version
10-18-2024
Document Type
Article
Rights
default
Abstract
This field and laboratory guide describes the field and laboratory methods used to characterize blue carbon in seagrass meadows. It was developed for the Caribbean Carbon Accounting in Seagrass project and describes the protocols and methods used by the network. In brief, at each project site, seagrass abundance, species composition, canopy height, and sediment type were assessed at sixteen 0.25 m2 quadrats placed at random locations within the site. Eight 20 cm diameter cores were taken to assess seagrass biomass, shoot density, and to provide the material for assessing seagrass carbon and nutrient content. All seagrasses within each of the eight cores were separated by species and tissue type, washed and scraped to remove epiphytes, then dried and weighed. A piston core of uncompressed soils was retrieved, to a depth of 1 m or until refusal. Cores were subsampled at 5 cm depth intervals using small subcorers. All subcores were weighed wet to permit the calculation of porosity and soil dry bulk density. Seagrass tissue and sediment samples were oven-dried at 60°C, and dry weight recorded. Finally, samples were analyzed in the laboratory for determination of Loss on Ignition, total carbon content, inorganic carbon content, organic carbon content, and carbon and nitrogen content as well as stable isotope ratios. The resulting data allow for the estimation of seagrass organic carbon stocks as well as nutrient and carbonate stocks in biomass and sediment, their relationship with environmental covariates, and the contribution of seagrass material to carbon stocks.
Recommended Citation
Fourqurean, James W.; Krause, Johannes R.; González-Corredor, Juan; Frankovich, Tom A.; and Campbell, Justin E., "Caricas Partner's Practical Field and Laboratory Guide" (2024). Center for Coastal Oceans Research Faculty Publications. 32.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/merc_fac/32
GUÍA PRÁCTICA DE CAMPO Y LABORATORIO PARA SOCIOS DE CARICAS
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