Carbon cycling in marine soft-sediment habitats

Climate change is caused by the increased use of fossil fuels and the consequent release of greenhouse gases unbalances the global carbon cycle. To reduce the harm of climate change, we need to balance carbon emissions with permanent carbon storage.

It is widely accepted that the ocean, being a highly reactive and dynamic environment, has a critical role to play in storing carbon and offsetting emissions. However, assessments of carbon captured by the ocean are heavily focused on mangroves, seagrass, saltmarsh and kelp forests, and yet ~70% of the Earth’s seafloor is made up of soft sediments (sand and mud). These habitats are often considered to be “just” sand and mud, but they are hugely diverse and house multiple animal communities, ranging from sponge gardens to shellfish beds to tube-worm mats.

We will explore the capacity for different types of soft-sediment environments to store carbon. This will fill a critical knowledge gap for finding solutions to improve carbon storage and develop carbon economies that are truly underpinned by ecology.