Publications by authors named "A Carolina Ruiz-Fernandez"
Article Synopsis
- * Recent analysis of sediment cores revealed that higher sedimentation rates were recorded during peak years of sargassum influx, leading to increased carbon burial rates.
- * This study is the first to investigate the relationship between sargassum influx, mass accumulation rates, and carbon burial in seagrass sediments, suggesting the need for ongoing monitoring in the future.
Tidal marshes are threatened coastal ecosystems known for their capacity to store large amounts of carbon in their water-logged soils. Accurate quantification and mapping of global tidal marshes soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is of considerable value to conservation efforts. Here, we used training data from 3710 unique locations, landscape-level environmental drivers and a global tidal marsh extent map to produce a global, spatially explicit map of SOC storage in tidal marshes at 30 m resolution.
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- Patchy data on litter decomposition in wetlands limits understanding of carbon storage, prompting a global study involving over 180 wetlands across multiple countries and climates.
- The study found that freshwater wetlands and tidal marshes had more organic matter remaining after decay, indicating better potential for carbon preservation in these areas.
- Elevated temperatures positively affect the decomposition of resistant organic matter, with projections suggesting an increase in decay rates by 2050; however, the impact varies by ecosystem type and highlights the need to recognize both local and global factors influencing carbon storage.
Accelerating microplastic contamination in Pb dated sediment cores from an urbanized coastal lagoon (NW Mexico) since the 1990s.
Sci Total Environ
November 2024
The ubiquity of microplastics (MP) across all ecosystems raises concerns about their potential harm to the environment and living organisms. Sediments are a MP sink, reflecting long-term accumulation and historical anthropogenic impacts. Three Pb-dated sediment cores were used to understand the temporal variations of MP abundances (particles kg) and fluxes (particles m year) within the past century in Estero de Urías Lagoon, an urbanized coastal lagoon in the Mexican Pacific.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite their ability to mitigate climate change by efficiently absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) and acting as natural long-term carbon sinks, mangrove ecosystems have faced several anthropogenic threats over the past century, resulting in a decline in the global mangrove cover. By using standardized methods and the most recent Bayesian tracer mixing models MixSIAR, this study aimed to quantify source contributions, burial rates, and stocks of organic carbon (C) and explore their temporal changes (∼100 years) in seven lead-210 dated sediment cores collected from three contrasting Mexican mangrove areas. The spatial variation in C burial rates and stocks in these blue carbon ecosystems primarily depended on the influence of local rivers, which controlled C sources and fluxes within the mangrove areas.
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