Data from: Estimation of metabolic dynamics of restored seagrass meadows in a Southeast Asia Islet: Insights from ex situ benthic incubation
Data files
Oct 09, 2025 version files 28.78 KB
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Dateset_Penghu.xlsx
25.58 KB
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README.md
3.20 KB
Abstract
Seagrass meadows are vital carbon sinks, but their function is threatened by rapid decline, driving restoration efforts to enhance coastal recovery and carbon removal. The capacity of these restored seagrasses as carbon sources or sinks depends largely on organic carbon metabolism and carbonate dynamics. In this study, we employed ex situ core incubation to investigate the metabolic rates of replanted seagrasses (SG), including gross primary productivity (GPP), community respiration (R), net ecosystem metabolism (NEM), and net ecosystem calcification (NEC) in SG and surrounding bare sediments (BS). SG exhibited higher GPP (26.0 ± 1.0 mmol O2 m-2 h-1 vs 0.7 ± 0.1 mmol O2 m-2 h-1) and NEM (208.2 ± 6.3 mmol O2 m-2 d-1 vs 20.1 ± 2.8 mmol O2 m-2 d-1) than BS, indicating their potential as carbon sinks by shifting benthic metabolism towards a more autotrophic state. In contrast, SG showed higher daytime carbonate production and nighttime carbonate dissolution, which could offset each other, resulting in no significant difference in NEC between SG and BS. In summary, our results found that the SG exhibited significantly higher NEM compared to BS, while no significant difference was found for NEC. Consequently, the net effect on the carbon uptake capacity of the restored seagrass is likely increased, primarily due to the higher NEM. Our findings highlight the ecological significance of seagrass restoration in mitigating climate change through carbon removal. The ex situ core incubation method allows for the simultaneous measurement of organic and inorganic carbon metabolism. While ex situ core incubation enhances feasibility, in situ assessments are still necessary to validate the results and ensure a comprehensive understanding of seagrass ecosystem dynamics.
Description of the data and file structure
File name: Dateset_Penghu.xlsx
Sheet 1. Carbonate chemistry: Contains the carbonate chemistry parameters (nTA, nDIC, pCO2, pH, and aragonite saturation state) between seagrass (SG) and bare sediment (BS)
Sheet 2. Metabolic rates: Contains the DO values, metabolic rates in terms of respiration (R), gross primary productivity (GPP), and net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) between seagrass (SG) and bare sediment (BS). n=9
Sheet 3. Carbonate dynamics: Contains the normalized Total Alkalinity (nTA) and the net ecosystem calcification (NEC) between seagrass (SG) and bare sediment (BS). n=3
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VARIABLE LISTS:
A. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Carbonate chemistry
- Number of variables: 7 (Columns A-G)
- Number of rows: 31
- Variable list:
- Treatment : SG = Seagrass; BS = Bare Sediment
- Date/Time : Month and time of the incubation period
4: April - nDIC(µmol kg-1) :normalized Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (micromoles per kilogram, µmol/kg)
- nTA(µmol kg-1) : normalized Total Alkalinity (micromoles per kilogram, µmol/kg)
- pH at 25: pH measured spectrophotometrically at 25 (°C)
- pCO2(µatm) : Partial pressure of Carbon Dioxide (units of microatmospheres, µatm)
- WAr : Aragonite saturation state
B. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Metabolic rates
- Number of variables : 20 (Columns A-U)
Number of rows : 37
Variable list for metabolic rates
- Treatment : Seagrass and Bare Sediment
- Date/Time : Month and time of the incubation period
4: April - Core Tank Replicates
B3 - Blue : Core tanks for seagrass
D5 - C3 : Core tanks for bare sediment - Core Information
Total length of core (cm)
Core Diameter (cm)
Sediment length (cm)
Water Column length (cm)
Core Surface Area (m2)
Core Volume (litres) - DO concentration : Dissolved Oxygen concentration in µmol/L
- Metabolic rates (Day 1 and Day 2)
R (mmol/m2/h) : Respiration rates (R) in mmol m-2 h-1.
GPP (mmol/m2/h) : Gross Primary Productivity in mmol m-2 h-1.
NEM (mmol/m2/d) : Net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) in mmol m-2 d-1.
C. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Carbonate dynamics
- Number of variables : 20 (Columns A-I)
Number of rows : 43
Variable list for metabolic rates
- Treatment : Seagrass and Bare Sediment
- Date/Time : Month and time of the incubation period
4: April- Core Tank Replicates
B3-1 - B3-3 : Core tanks for seagrass
D5-1 - D5-3 : Core tanks for bare sediment - Core Information
Total length of core (cm)
Core Diameter (cm)
Sediment length (cm)
Water Column length (cm)
Core Surface Area (m2)
Core Volume (litres) - nTA flux (Day 1 and Day 2)
NT (mmol/m2/h) : nighttime flux (NT) in mmol m-2 h-1.
DT (mmol/m2/h) : daytime flux (DT) in mmol m-2 h-1.
Daily (mmol/m2/d) : daily net ecosystem calcification (NEC) in mmol m-2 d-1.
- Core Tank Replicates