Most measured carbon in one Indonesian seagrass study lay beneath the plants
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
At six monitoring stations, measured seagrass carbon-stock estimates ranged roughly 154–244 tonnes C per hectare, with approximately 99% attributed to sediment. Comparison with an earlier 2014 dataset suggested a lower mean stock by 2025; authors translated the difference into a scenario-derived carbon-dioxide-equivalent estimate.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Blue-carbon accounting is largely a soil and sediment problem. Repeated cores and comparable methods, not simply maps of green seagrass cover, are necessary to judge long-term storage and whether a management intervention changed it.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The roughly 36% historical difference is not an experimentally estimated cause of loss; surveys differed in context and methods. The reported annual emissions figure is calculated from stock change, not a directly measured atmosphere–ocean flux.
SOURCE
Discover Environment · Derawan seagrass carbon field comparison
View original evidence ↗
Derawan surveys highlight sediment storage and an apparent stock decline, while estimated emissions depend on assumptions.
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