Elucidating the Role of Marine Benthic Carbon in a Changing World

Authors

• Cristina Schultz, Northeastern University
• Jessica Y. Luo, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
• Damian C. Brady, University of Maine
• Robinson W. Fulwiler, Boston University
• Matthew H. Long, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Colleen M. Petrik, University of San Diego
• Jeremy M. Testa, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Heather M. Benway, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• David Burdige, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Marta M. Cecchetto, Genoa Marine Center
• Isa Elegbede, Lagos State University
• Natalya Evans, Dalhousie University
• Alexandra Frenzel, University Of Connecticut
• Kayla Gillen, Northeastern University
• Lisa C. Herbert, Florida State University
• Heidi K. Hirsh, University of Miami
• Gennadi Lessin, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
• Lisa Levin, University of California San Diego
• Kanchan Maiti, Louisiana State University
• Sairah Malkin, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Sarah L. Mincks, Louisiana State University
• Stanley Nmor, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
• Anh Pham, University of California Los Angeles
• James Pinckney, University of South Carolina
• Christophe Rabouille, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace and Université Paris-Saclay
• Shaily Rahman, University of Colorado Boulder
• Subhadeep Rakshit, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
• Nicholas E. Ray, University of Delaware
• Dalton K. Sasaki, Northeastern University
• Samantha A. Siedlecki, University of Connecticut
• Christopher Somes, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research
• Aron Stubbins, Northeastern University
• Olivier Sulpis, Aix Marseille University
• Cleuza Trevisan, Universidade Federal Fluminense
• Yiyang Xu, Northeastern University
• Hang Yin, University of Macau

ORCID

0000-0002-8859-7096 (Burdige)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1029/2025GB008643

Publication Title

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Volume

39

Issue

12

Pages

e2025GB008643

Abstract

The ocean plays a major role in controlling atmospheric carbon at decadal to millennial timescales, with benthic carbon representing the only geologic-scale storage of oceanic carbon. Despite its importance, detailed benthic ocean observations are limited and representation of the benthic carbon cycle in ocean and Earth system models (ESMs) is mostly empirical with little prognostic capacity, which hinders our ability to properly understand the long-term evolution of the carbon cycle and climate change-related feedbacks. The Benthic Ecosystem and Carbon Synthesis (BECS) working group, with the support of the US Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Program (OCB), identified key challenges limiting our understanding of benthic systems, opportunities to act on these challenges, and pathways to increase the representation of these systems in global modeling and observational efforts. We propose a set of priorities to advance mechanistic understanding and better quantify the importance of the benthos: (a) implementing a model intercomparison exercise with existing benthic models to support future model development, (b) data synthesis to inform both model parameterizations and future observations, (c) increased deployment of platforms and technologies in support of in situ benthic monitoring (e.g., from benchtop to field mesocosm), and (d) global coordination of a benthic observing program (“GEOSed”) to fill large regional data gaps and evaluate the mechanistic understanding of benthic processes acquired throughout the previous steps. Addressing these priorities will help inform solutions to both global and regional resource management and climate adaptation strategies.

Rights

© 2025. The Authors.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Data Availability

Article states: "No data sets were used in the preparation of this manuscript."

Original Publication Citation

Schultz, C., Luo, J. Y., Brady, D. C., Fulweiler, R. W., Long, M. H., Petrik, C. M., Testa, J. M., Benway, H. M., Burdige, D., Cecchetto, M. M., Elegbede, I., Evans, N., Frenzel, A., Gillen, K., Herbert, L. C., Hirsh, H. K., Lessin, G., Levin, L., Maiti, K.,…Yin, H. (2025). Elucidating the role of marine benthic carbon in a changing world. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 39(12), e2025GB008643. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GB008643

Repository Citation

Schultz, Cristina; Luo, Jessica Y.; Brady, Damian C.; Fulwiler, Robinson W.; Long, Matthew H.; Petrik, Colleen M.; Testa, Jeremy M.; Benway, Heather M.; Burdige, David; Cecchetto, Marta M.; Elegbede, Isa; Evans, Natalya; Frenzel, Alexandra; Gillen, Kayla; Herbert, Lisa C.; Hirsh, Heidi K.; Lessin, Gennadi; Levin, Lisa; Maiti, Kanchan; Malkin, Sairah; Mincks, Sarah L.; Nmor, Stanley; Pham, Anh; Pinckney, James; Rabouille, Christophe; Rahman, Shaily; Rakshit, Subhadeep; Ray, Nicholas E.; Sasaki, Dalton K.; Siedlecki, Samantha A.; Somes, Christopher; Stubbins, Aron; Sulpis, Olivier; Trevisan, Cleuza; Xu, Yiyang; and Yin, Hang, "Elucidating the Role of Marine Benthic Carbon in a Changing World" (2025). OES Faculty Publications. 562.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/562