Blue Carbon Accelerator

Blue carbon is an emerging feild within marine and climate science. Seaweeds are an emerging blue carbon solution, stalled by major knowledge gaps. The blue carbon accelerator project aims to address some of these key knowledge gaps in order to assess seaweeds potential to act as a blue carbon solution into the future. The project will focus on the Ninglaoo region as an initial and adress the following are key areas.         Seaweed source dynamics: Identifying the drivers of seaweed carbon drawdown in the source habitats to build a predictive model for seaweed carbon supply over space and time. This will produce a verified model of areal rates of carbon drawdown via this natural pathway.            Ecosystem carbon fluxes: Quantifying the nutrient flows and seaweed carbon that support key ecosystem functions and values via major consumer pathways. This will provide a model for the environmental risks posed by additional seaweed growth for carbon sequestration            Carbon transport: Tracking seaweed carbon transport from coastal to offshore settings using a novel mix of oceanographic modelling validated with in-field tracking of wrack and genetic markers. This will demonstrate the timing and extent of this passive sequestration pathway;            Carbon sequestration: Demonstrating seaweed carbon storage in a deep-sea sink via models linking fluctuations in source carbon to sedimentary sequestration using stable isotopes and genetic markers (developed in 2. and 3. above). This will verify durable seaweed carbon sequestration for formal recognition as a blue carbon asset.