National Key Research and Development Program
Principal Investigator: Yao Zhang
Duration: 2016-2021
Budget (10K）: 2500
Project Number：2016YFA0601400
Ocean is the largest carbon pool on earth surface, serving as the buffer of global climate change, absorbing about 1/3 of CO2 produced by human activities. Carbon sink captured by marine ecosystem is called the "Blue Carbon Sink" (hereinafter referred to as "blue carbon"), which is one of the most important mechanisms for the sea to store carbon. The initial form of blue carbon is visible plant carbon sequestration in the coastal zone. As a matter of fact, the invisible microorganisms (phytoplankton, bacteria, archaea, and protozoa), which have always been ignored, account for 90% of the marine biomass and constitute the main component of blue carbon. The marginal sea covers one third of the total territory of China, and it is of urgent need to explore the immense potential of carbon sinks. This project aims at the key processes and mechanisms of the carbon sequestration in coastal ecosystems and ways to increase ocean carbon sink.
An increasing carbon sink, on the one hand, refers to increasing the sinking and burial of particle organic carbon (POC) in sediments; and on the other hand, it is about increasing the production of refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) mediated by microorganisms (the overall amount of the RDOC pool is equal to that of CO2 in the atmosphere). This project is featured in its interdisciplinary cooperation and integration. Potential breakthroughs are especially expected in the following aspects: (1) key processes and regulatory mechanisms of ocean carbon sink and its relationship with environment and global climate changes; (2) an index system for carbon storage including a series of physical-chemical and biological indices and parameters and main core measurements protocols; (3) demonstrations of increasing carbon sink and engineering carbon sequestration in the ocean. These outputs will support the sustainable development of marine ecosystem and national carbon emissions trading.
