Cavan E L, Mackay N, Hill S L, Atkinson A, Belcher A, Visser A
Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.
University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, UK.
Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 8;15(1):7842. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52135-6.
The carbon sequestration potential of open-ocean pelagic ecosystems is vastly under-reported compared to coastal vegetation 'blue carbon' systems. Here we show that just a single pelagic harvested species, Antarctic krill, sequesters a similar amount of carbon through its sinking faecal pellets as marshes, mangroves and seagrass. Due to their massive population biomass, fast-sinking faecal pellets and the modest depths that pellets need to reach to achieve sequestration (mean is 381 m), Antarctic krill faecal pellets sequester 20 MtC per productive season (spring to early Autumn). This is equates USD$ 4 - 46 billion depending on the price of carbon, with krill pellet carbon stored for at least 100 years and with some reaching as far as the North Pacific. Antarctic krill are being impacted by rapid polar climate change and an expanding fishery, thus krill populations and their habitat warrant protection to preserve this valuable carbon sink.
与沿海植被“蓝碳”系统相比，公海中上层生态系统的碳固存潜力被大大低估。我们在此表明，仅一种被捕捞的中上层物种——南极磷虾，通过其下沉的粪便颗粒所固存的碳量，与沼泽、红树林和海草相当。由于其庞大的种群生物量、快速下沉的粪便颗粒以及粪便颗粒实现碳固存所需到达的适度深度（平均为381米），南极磷虾的粪便颗粒在每个生产季节（春季至初秋）固存2000万吨碳。根据碳的价格，这相当于40亿至460亿美元，磷虾粪便颗粒中的碳至少储存100年，有些甚至能到达北太平洋。南极磷虾正受到极地快速气候变化和不断扩大的渔业的影响，因此，磷虾种群及其栖息地需要得到保护，以维护这一宝贵的碳汇。
