S'pore's small seagrass meadows are big carbon sponges

Carbon is locked up in the plants' roots, underground stems, and soil they grow in

- Zachary Lim

Singapore's seagrass meadows may be small, but the remaining patches of the ocean's only flowering plant here are punching above their weight when it comes to their ability to store carbon, a new study has found.

Seagrass meadows in the Central Indo-Pacific region, which includes Singapore and Malaysia, can lock up an average of 86 metric tonnes of carbon per hectare equivalent to the annual emissions from 22 cars. This is more than twice the global average of 38 metric tonnes per hectare, the study found.

The research, which quantified carbon stocks in seagrass ecosystems globally, was done by researchers from academic institutions and organisations across the globe, including the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore-based International Blue Carbon Institute.

Published in research journal Nature in May, the study identified the lagoons and small deltas of the Indo-Pacific as being among the top five regions globally with the highest organic carbon storage potential, alongside the Mediterranean, Colombia, Florida and South Africa.

Organic carbon refers to carbon that comes from living things.

While seagrass meadows are known to be natural carbon sponges that can soak up planet-warming carbon dioxide, there is still much uncertainty and knowledge gaps about these ecosystems, making their conservation challenging.

The aim of the study, said the researchers, was to provide policymakers with greater understanding about the factors that affect the carbon storage potential of seagrass meadows.

This could help guide the "development, integrity and reliability of climate change policy, and financing to support seagrass conservation and restoration", they said.

WHAT ARE SEAGRASSES?

Seagrasses are aquatic plants that take in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. This carbon is locked up in the plants' roots and underground stems, and the soil they grow in.