Recent studies also suggest that seaweed carbon makes important contributions to oceanic carbon export 18, with some estimates identifying seaweeds as major contributors to oceanic carbon sequestration 19. The carbon assimilated through this production fuels local marine food webs 15, 16 and can constitute a trophic subsidy to areas with low primary production such as soft-bottom communities 17. Seaweeds form the largest and most productive underwater vegetated habitat on Earth, drawing a flux of CO 2 comparable to the Amazon rainforest every year 14. Additionally, the majority of measurements are conducted at local scales, which means compilation of multiple local-scale datasets is required to unravel larger spatiotemporal patterns 12. Existing measurements of coastal vegetation NPP vary however in methodology and are usually reported in different units, hindering our understanding of the role these habitats play in the carbon cycle and how it compares to other primary producers 13. Rather, most observations rely on in situ measurements 12. This is particularly true for submerged vegetated habitats such as seaweed forests or seagrass beds, which are important contributors to coastal productivity globally 10, but whose NPP cannot be measured accurately by satellite sensors as these perform poorly at shallow depths where submerged vegetation occurs (0–30 m) 11. In contrast, the magnitude, patterns and determinants of spatial and temporal variation of primary productivity in the coastal ocean remains poorly understood 9.
The advent of remote sensing technologies has facilitated the measurement of terrestrial 2, 3, 4, freshwater 5, 6, and oceanic 7, 8 NPP at unprecedented scales, with most global models of NPP available to date relying on space-based observations 4, 6.
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NPP is a major driver of ecological functioning and a key flux in the global carbon cycle 1.