Research Projects

Atmospheric greenhouse concentrations, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), have seen a significant rise increasing from 280 ppm during pre-industrial era to around 413 ppm as of October 2021 and this escalation is a critical driver of global warming and climate change. Recent projections indicate that CO2 level may continue to rise by an average of 2 ppm annually, potentially reaching as high as 670 ppm by the year 2100. These climate-induced environmental changes, compounded by the regional and anthropogenic pressures, significantly impact the marine biogeochemistry and associated habitats. Among the foundation ecosystem in the marine environment, seagrasses are the only group that has returned to a completely submerged marine life provide essential ecosystem services, including habitat, oxygen production, and CO₂ sequestration, which are integral to global climate regulation. Despite their importance, the seagrass population is declined of about 7% globally due to climate change and anthropogenic factors led to 29% loss since 19th century making them one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. This degree of ecosystem degradation or transition through attaining phenotypic changes largely depends on the foundation species tolerance and resistance to warming. These adaptive traits, governed by underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms enable seagrasses respond to rapid environmental changes. Nevertheless, the extent to which seagrasses exhibit phenotypic plasticity, particularly under the extreme consitions of MHWs remains poorly understood. Moreover, the differential adaptive capacities through phenotypic plasticity for Indian seagrasses are not well defined, highlighting a critical gap in understanding their resilience mechanisms. Furthemore, seagrasses are recognized as a key blue carbon ecosystem as it uptake the atmospheric CO2 through direct atmospheric CO₂ uptake via air-water flux and indirect carbon storage within plant biomass and sediments. While both pathways are vital, the relative importance of these mechanisms under MHW condition remains unsettled. Understanding how these pathways interact and contribute for carbon capture and sequestration to climate mitigation during extreme events is critical. Hence, our research hypothesis posits that seagrass population exposed to extreme MHWs may exhibit enhanced phenotypic plasticity driven by central transcriptional regulation which allow seagrasses to optimize morphological, physiological and anatomical traits to cope with thermal stress, thereby promoting the atmospheric CO2 uptake and carbon sequestration. Moreover, organisms inhabiting dynamic, stress-prone environments may develop superior plasticity compared to those in stable conditions. Consequently, MHW-driven phenotypic plasticity may not only enhance seagrass resilience but also facilitate increased carbon accumulation in biomass and sediments, reinforcing their role as a nature based solution to climate change.