ABSTRACT

Key features:

  • Captures the historic context and recent developments in science and policy arenas that address the potential for coastal wetlands to be considered as significant contributors to carbon sequestration
  • Links multiple levels of science (biogeochemistry, geomorphology, paleoclimate, etc.) with blue carbon concepts (science, policy, mapping, operationalization, economics) in a single compendium
  • Concludes with a discussion of future directions which covers integrated scientific approaches, impending threats and specific gaps in current knowledge
  • Includes 7 case studies from across the globe that demonstrate the benefits and challenges of blue carbon accounting
  • Written by over 100 leading global blue carbon experts in science and policy.
  •  

    Blue Carbon has emerged as a term that represents the distinctive carbon stocks and fluxes into or out of coastal wetlands such as marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses. The Blue Carbon concept has rapidly developed in science literature and is highly relevant politically, as nations and markets are developing blue carbon monitoring and management tools and policies. This book is a comprehensive and current compendium of the state of the science, the state of maps and mapping protocols, and the state of policy incentives (including economic valuation of blue carbon), with additional sections on operationalizing blue carbon projects and 7 case studies with global relevance.

    chapter Chapter 1|8 pages

    Defining Blue Carbon

    The Emergence of a Climate Context for Coastal Carbon Dynamics

    part I|120 pages

    State of Science

    chapter Chapter 5|15 pages

    Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance of Coastal Wetland-Dominated Estuaries

    Where’s the Blue Carbon?

    chapter Chapter 7|12 pages

    Accretion

    Measurement and Interpretation of Wetland Sediments

    chapter Chapter 8|14 pages

    Greenhouse Gases

    part II|52 pages

    State of Mapping

    part III|96 pages

    State of Policy

    part IV|110 pages

    Case Studies

    chapter Chapter 24|10 pages

    Mikoko Pamoja

    A Demonstrably Effective Community-Based Blue Carbon Project in Kenya

    chapter Chapter 26|15 pages

    Tampa Bay Estuary Case Study

    Identifying Blue Carbon Incentives to Further Bolster Future Critical Coastal Habitat Restoration and Management Efforts

    chapter Chapter 28|11 pages

    Blue Carbon Futures

    Moving Forward on Terra Firma