PROJECTS /
Understanding Kelp & Carbon
Project Summary
Kelp reefs in Hauraki Gulf = est. $8million in carbon storage
Kelp forests provide important stores of carbon
Investigating the long-term fate of carbon fixed by kelp
Photo Credit / Josie Mason
IS KELP CLIMATE’S
NEXT SUPERHERO?
It’s possible the ocean’s kelp forests have unrealised potential which could prove hugely valuable in the global push to reduce carbon in the earth’s atmosphere, but there’s a piece of the kelp puzzle that needs solving.
Live Ocean Foundation is supporting Dr Caitlin Blain from the University of Auckland to investigate how kelp forests contribute to coastal carbon cycles. Kelp forests are highly productive and while they provide important stores of carbon, researchers know the majority of the carbon fixed by kelp through photosynthesis is being released back into the ocean, but what happens to it after that?
This research will help scientists understand the long-term fate of this released carbon, deepening their understanding around the role of kelp forests in climate change mitigation and provides an exciting opportunity for quantifying and valuing blue carbon.
“If we know the long-term fate of released carbon from kelp, we’ll know the role of kelp forests in carbon sequestration which could reveal their full potential for climate change mitigation”
DR CAITLIN BLAIN
PROJECT LEAD – UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND
THE NUMBERS
AT A GLANCE
Kelp forests have a total estimated value of $500 billion USD per year
Threat is longline fishing
Reforestation of kelp reefs in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park could be worth nearly $8 million NZD in carbon storage
of carbon fixed by kelp is released back into the water column, it is not yet known what happens to it
THE VALUE OF KELP
This work is an important first step to valuing kelp forests in New Zealand. Caitlin’s research team has already been able to demonstrate that the reforestation of reefs in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park could be worth nearly $8 million NZD in carbon storage – a figure that is likely to be a substantial underestimate as it only considers carbon locked in the standing stock of kelp and does not consider the ongoing productivity.
On a global scale, kelp forests have a total estimated value of ~$500 billion USD per annum based on six key genera of kelp and three ecosystem services (fisheries production, nutrient cycling, and carbon removal). Providing a dollar value assessment of global kelp forests is a useful tool for bringing awareness to conserving and restoring these vital systems.
Dr Caitlin Blain
Research Fellow, University of Auckland
Caitlin studied marine biology in Canada before moving to New Zealand in 2018 to complete her PhD at the University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine Laboratory. Following her PhD, Caitlin was a Research Fellow through the University of Auckland’s George Mason Centre of the Natural Environment. Her current work, based at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, focuses on ecosystem functioning on temperate rocky reefs and the role of kelp forests in coastal carbon cycles.
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