Freshwater Ecosystems: Carbon Sequestration Champions

Nature helps us fight climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it underground.

When algae and bacteria in the water photosynthesize, they take carbon dioxide from atmosphere and convert it to organic carbon.

Organic carbon moves through the ecosystem as it is eaten by other organisms or as it sinks to the bottom.

When organic carbon reaches the bottom, it can remain buried for a long time.

Carbon sequestration rates in inland waters have increased in the last decades due to human influences on the environment.

The balance between photosynthesis, decomposition, and burial is changing due to climate and environmental changes.

Human changes to the environment increase carbon burial and storage, but they can also speed up the rates of greenhouse gas production.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

This work was funded by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology ( NIOO -KNAW) and supported by the European Union ( ERC , BLOOMTOX, project number 101044452 ) and the Dutch Research Council .