| dc.description.abstract | : There is growing interest in carbon stocks and
flows in seagrass ecosystems, but recent global reviews
suggest a paucity of studies from Africa. This paper reviews
work on seagrass productivity, biomass and sediment carbon
in Africa. Most work was conducted in East Africa
with a major geographical gap in West Africa. The mean
above-ground, below-ground and total biomasses from
all studies were 174.4, 474.6 and 514 g DW m-2, respectively
with a global range of 461–738 g DW m-2. Mean annual production
rate was 913 g DW m-2 year-1 (global range 816–1012
g DW m-2 year-1). No studies were found giving sediment
organic carbon, demonstrating a major gap in seagrass
blue carbon work. Given the small numbers of relevant
papers and the large geographical areas left undescribed
in Africa, any conclusions remain tentative and much
remains to be done on seagrass studies in Africa. | en_US |
