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Biodiversity tends to decrease with increasing isolation and reduced habitat size, and increase with habitat age. Ascension Island and its seamounts are small, isolated and relatively young, yet harbor patchily dense life. Large areas of these waters are soon to be designated as a major Marine Protected Area. Given the remote location there are few local threats to the region. However, global climate related stressors (e.g., temperature and acidification) and arguably plastic pollution are key issues likely to impact ecosystem services. We evaluate the accumulated carbon in benthos around Ascension Island’s EEZ shallower than 1000 m using data collected over two research cruises in 2015 and 2017 through seabed mapping, seabed camera imagery and collections of benthos using a mini-Agassiz trawl. Benthos shallower than 1000 m essentially comprises the coastal waters around Ascension Island and three seamounts (Harris-Stewart, Grattan, and Unnamed). There is considerable societal benefit from benthic carbon storage and sequestration through its mitigation value buffering climate change. This service is often termed “blue carbon.” Overall we estimate that there is at least 43,000 t of blue carbon, on the 3% of Ascension Island EEZ’s seabed which is |
