Nature – McHenry et al. (2025): A blueprint for national assessments of the blue carbon capacity of kelp forests applied to Canada’s coastline
Jennifer McHenry, Daniel K. Okamoto, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Kira A. Krumhansl, Kathleen A. MacGregor, Margot Hessing-Lewis, Brian Timmer, Philippe Archambault, Claire M. Attridge, Delphine Cottier, Maycira Costa, Matthew Csordas, Ladd E. Johnson, Joanne Lessard, Alejandra Mora-Soto, Anna Metaxas, Christopher K. Neufeld, Ondine Pontier, Luba Reshitnyk, Samuel Starko, Jennifer Yakimishyn & Julia K. Baum, IN: NPJ Ocean Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00125-6
Kelp forests offer substantial carbon fixation, with the potential to contribute to natural climate solutions (NCS). However, to be included in national NCS inventories, governments must first quantify the kelp-derived carbon stocks and fluxes leading to carbon sequestration. Here, the authors present a blueprint for assessing the national blue carbon capacity of kelp forests in which data synthesis and Bayesian hierarchical modeling enable estimates of kelp carbon production, storage, and export capacity from limited data. Applying this blueprint to Canada’s extensive coastline, they estimate kelps hold 0.6 to 2.8 Tg C in short-term biomass, producing 1.1 to 6.2 Tg C yr⁻¹, of which 0.04 to 0.4 Tg C yr⁻¹ could be exported to the deep ocean.