Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling/Reply

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 617; no. 7960; pp. E1 - 3
• Main Authors: Atwood, Trisha B, Sala, Enric, Mayorga, Juan, Bradley, Darcy, Cabral, Reniel B, Auber, Arnaud, Cheung, William, Ferretti, Francesco, Friedlander, Alan M, Gaines, Steven D, Garilao, Cristina, Goodell, Whitney, Halpern, Benjamin S, Hinson, Audra, Kaschner, Kristin, Kesner-Reyes, Kathleen, Leprieur, Fabien, McGowan, Jennifer, Morgan, Lance E, Mouillot, David, Palacios-Abrantes, Juliano, Possingham, Hugh P, Rechberger, Kristin D, Worm, Boris, Lubchenco, Jane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 11-05-2023
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Carbon offsets; Estimates; Fisheries; Funding; Mineralization; Ocean floor; Science; Seafood; Sediment-water interface; Sediments; Trawling; Water depth; Netherlands; United Kingdom > UK; Belgium
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06014-7

The remaining, less-reactive fractions are mineralized at a much slower rate, with typical k values below 0.1yr-1 (ref. 4). Because of the preferential mineralization of the more-reactive fractions, the k value of the bulk OC decreases exponentially with sediment depth, generally from 1-10 yr-1 at the sediment-water interface to less than 0.01 yr-1 below a depth4,5 of 5 cm (Fig. 1). [...]the approach Sala et al.1 have taken-using a k value of 0.3-17 yr-1 and applying this to the bulk of the OC stock-may result in an overestimation of CO2 release of historically buried OC by two to three orders of magnitude. [...]their model assumptions imply that the OC in an area protected from trawling is unreactive and will not be mineralized. [...]we currently do not know enough about the impact of trawling on seabed carbon to make robust global projections.