The greenhouse gas offset potential from seagrass restoration.

ABSTRACT: Awarding CO₂ offset credits may incentivize seagrass restoration projects and help reverse greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from global seagrass loss. However, no study has quantified net GHG removal from the atmosphere from a seagrass restoration project, which would require coupled C_org stock and GHG flux enhancement measurements, or determined whether the creditable offset benefit can finance the restoration. We measured all of the necessary GHG accounting parameters in the 7-km² Zostera marina (eelgrass) meadow in Virginia, U.S.A., part of the largest, most cost-effective meadow restoration to date, to provide the first seagrass offset finance test-of-concept. Restoring seagrass removed 9,600 tCO₂ from the atmosphere over 15 years but also enha

SUBMITTER: Oreska MPJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7193639 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature