{"id":88076,"date":"2023-01-09T11:47:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T10:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=88076"},"modified":"2023-01-09T11:47:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T10:47:04","slug":"slime-for-the-climate-delivered-by-brown-algae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/science\/slime-for-the-climate-delivered-by-brown-algae\/","title":{"rendered":"Slime for the climate, delivered by brown algae"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brown algae could remove up to 0.55 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown algae take up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and release parts of the carbon contained therein back into the environment in mucous form. This mucus is hard to break down for other ocean inhabitants, thus the carbon is removed from the atmosphere for a long time, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen now show. They reveal that the algal mucus called fucoidan is particularly responsible for this carbon removal and estimate that brown algae could thus remove up to 550 million tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year \u2013 almost the amount of Germany’s entire annual greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown algae are true wonder plants when it comes to absorbing carbon dioxide from the air. They even outcompete forests on land in this, and thus play a decisive role for the atmosphere and our climate<\/a>. But what happens to the carbon dioxide after the algae have absorbed it? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology now report that the brown algae can remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the global cycle in the long term and thus can counteract global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algae take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use the carbon to grow. They release up to a third of the carbon they absorb back into the seawater, for example in the form of sugary excretions. Depending on the structure of these excretions, they are either quickly used by other organisms or sink towards the seafloor. \u201cThe excretions of brown algae are very complex and therefore incredibly complicated to measure,\u201d says first author Hagen Buck-Wiese from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. \u201cHowever, we have managed to develop a method to analyse them in detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this method, the researchers scrutinised a large number of different substances. The so-called fucoidan turned out to be particularly exciting. \u201cFucoidan made up about half of the excretions of the brown algae species we studied, the so-called bladderwrack,\u201d says Buck-Wiese. Fucoidan is a recalcitrant molecule. \u201cThe fucoidan is so complex that it is very hard for other organisms to use it. No one seems to like it.\u201d As a result, the carbon from the fucoidan does not return to the atmosphere quickly. \u201cThis makes the brown algae particularly good helpers in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the long term \u2013 for hundreds to thousands of years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown algae could bind almost all of Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions<\/h5>\n\n\n
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Brown algae are particularly widespread on rocky shores in temperate and cold latitudes and there absorb large amounts\u2026 [more]\n\n\u00a9 Hagen Buck-Wiese\/Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brown algae are remarkably productive. It is estimated that they absorb about 1 gigaton (one billion tons) of carbon per year from the air. Using the results of the present study, this would mean that up to 0.15 gigatons of carbon, equivalent to 0.55 gigatons of carbon dioxide, are sequestered by brown algae each year in the long term. For comparison: Germany’s annual greenhouse gas emissions currently amount to about 0.74 gigatons of carbon dioxide, according to the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, estimation for 2020). \u201cAnd even better: The fucoidan does not contain any nutrients such as nitrogen,\u201d Buck-Wiese explains further. Thus, the growth of the brown algae is not affected by the carbon losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the current study, Buck-Wiese and his colleagues from the MARUM MPG Bridge Group Marine Glycobiology, which is based at both the Bremen Max Planck Institute and MARUM – Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, conducted their experiments at the Tv\u00e4rminne Zoological Station in southern Finland. \u201cNext we want to look into other brown algae species and other locations,\u201d says Buck-Wiese. \u201cThe great potential of brown algae for climate protection definitely needs to be further researched and utilised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n