Journal article
Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks
Marine pollution bulletin, Vol.56(6), pp.1049-1056
2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112366
PMCID: PMC5373553
PMID: 18439628
Abstract
The proposed plan for enrichment of the Sulu Sea, Philippines, a region of rich marine biodiversity, with thousands of tonnes of urea in order to stimulate algal blooms and sequester carbon is flawed for multiple reasons. Urea is preferentially used as a nitrogen source by some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, many of which are neutrally or positively buoyant. Biological pumps to the deep sea are classically leaky, and the inefficient burial of new biomass makes the estimation of a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere questionable at best. The potential for growth of toxic dinoflagellates is also high, as many grow well on urea and some even increase their toxicity when grown on urea. Many toxic dinoflagellates form cysts which can settle to the sediment and germinate in subsequent years, forming new blooms even without further fertilization. If large-scale blooms do occur, it is likely that they will contribute to hypoxia in the bottom waters upon decomposition. Lastly, urea production requires fossil fuel usage, further limiting the potential for net carbon sequestration. The environmental and economic impacts are potentially great and need to be rigorously assessed.
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Details
- Title
- Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks
- Creators
- Patricia M Glibert - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, P.O. Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USAJohn Harrison - School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver Campus, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686, USARhodora Azanza - The Marine Science Institute, Velasquez, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, PhilippinesMichele Burford - Griffith University, Australian Rivers Institute, Kessel Road, Nathan Queensland 4111, AustraliaKen Furuya - Department of Aquatic Bioscience, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, JapanEva Abal - South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Partnership, 239 George Street, G.P.O. Box 1434, Brisbane Queensland 4001, AustraliaAdnan Al-Azri - Department of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O.Box 34, Al-Khodh, PC123 Muscat, OmanFaiza Al-Yamani - Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, KuwaitPer Andersen - Orbicon A/S, Jens Juuls Vej 18, 8260, Viby J., DenmarkDonald M Anderson - Biology Department MS#32 and 33, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAJohn Beardall - School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Victoria 3800, AustraliaG. Mine Berg - Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USALarry Brand - Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USADeborah Bronk - Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USAJustin Brookes - Water Research Cluster, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide South Australia 5005, AustraliaJoAnn M Burkholder - Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAAllan Cembella - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, GermanyWilliam P Cochlan - Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA94920, USAJackie L Collier - Marine Sciences Research Center, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USAYves Collos - Université Montpellier 2, CNRS, Ifremer, Laboratoire Ecosystèmes Lagunaires (UMR 5119) CC093, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, FranceRobert Diaz - Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USAMartina Doblin - Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, AustraliaThomas Drennen - Departments of Economics and Environmental Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14456, USASonya Dyhrman - Biology Department MS#32 and 33, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAYasuwo Fukuyo - Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, JapanMiles Furnas - Water Quality and Ecosystem Health Team, Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No. 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, AustraliaJames Galloway - Environmental Sciences Department, Clark Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22903 VA, USAEdna Granéli - Department of Marine Sciences, University of Kalmar, 39182 Kalmar, SwedenDao Viet Ha - Institute of Oceanography, Cauda 01, Vinh Nguyen, Nhatrang City, Viet NamGustaaf Hallegraeff - School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart Tasmania 7001, AustraliaPaul J Harrison - Atmospheric, Marine and Coastal Environment Program, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong KongCynthia A Heil - Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Avenue, SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USAKirsten Heimann - School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville Queensland 4811, AustraliaRobert Howarth - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, E311 Corson Hall, Ithaca NY 14853, USACécile Jauzein - Université Montpellier 2, CNRS, Ifremer, Laboratoire Ecosystèmes Lagunaires (UMR 5119) CC093, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, FranceAustin A Kana - Departments of Economics and Environmental Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14456, USATodd M Kana - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, P.O. Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USAHakgyoon Kim - Pukyong National University, Department of Ocean Science, 599-1 Daeyon-Dong, Nam-gu, Busan, Republic of KoreaRaphael Kudela - Ocean Sciences and Institute for Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USACatherine Legrand - Department of Marine Sciences, University of Kalmar, 39182 Kalmar, SwedenMichael Mallin - Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409, USAMargaret Mulholland - Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4600 Elkhorn Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23529, USAShauna Murray - School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, AustraliaJudith O’Neil - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, P.O. Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USAGrant Pitcher - Marine and Coastal Management, Private Bag X2, Rogge Bay 8012, Cape Town, South AfricaYuzao Qi - Jinan University, Research Center for Harmful Algae and Aquatic Environment, 510632 Guanzhou, PR ChinaNancy Rabalais - Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA 70344, USARobin Raine - Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, IrelandSybil Seitzinger - Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers/NOAA CMER, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USAPaulo S Salomon - Department of Marine Sciences, University of Kalmar, 39182 Kalmar, SwedenCaroline Solomon - Department of Biology, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002, USADiane K Stoecker - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, P.O. Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USAGires Usup - Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitii Kebagsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaJoanne Wilson - Coral Triangle Centre, The Nature Conservancy, Jl Pengembak 2, Sanur, 80228 Bali, IndonesiaKedong Yin - Griffith University, Australian Rivers Institute, Kessel Road, Nathan Queensland 4111, AustraliaMingjiang Zhou - Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071, PR ChinaMingyuan Zhu - First Institute of Oceanography, 6 Xianxialing Road, High-tech Industrial Park, 266061 Qingdao, PR China
- Publication Details
- Marine pollution bulletin, Vol.56(6), pp.1049-1056
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAS)
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 99900547896501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article