Sargassum and fiddler crabs boost carbon storage in mangroves

Against all expectations, sargassum promotes carbon storage in mangrove soils.

The Caribbean coasts and mangroves are regularly buried under tons of stranded sargassum. Although the harmful effects of the gases released by these algae as they decompose, such as hydrogen sulphide, are well known, their impact on ecosystems is still the subject of in-depth research. Sometimes with surprising results! This is the case of a study carried out by IRD scientists and their partners, who were interested in the effects of sargassum strandings on the capacity of Guadeloupean mangroves to store carbon. While the researchers thought that decomposing algae would promote the degradation of soil carbon in mangroves, they discovered that the latter, on the contrary, contributed to the storage of blue carbon: this is what we call “the negative priming effect”.

Read more in the IRD Le Mag‘ magazine (in French).

GET Contact: Frédéric Guérin