Biogeosciences
Biogeosciences
BG
Articles | Volume 19, issue 24
Articles | Volume 19, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5751-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5751-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 19, issue 24
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
15 Dec 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Dec 2022

Quantification of blue carbon in salt marshes of the Pacific coast of Canada

Stephen G. Chastain, Karen E. Kohfeld, Marlow G. Pellatt, Carolina Olid, and Maija Gailis

Data sets

Salt marsh soil carbon content, loss on ignition, dry bulk density, carbon stocks, lead-210 and carbon accumulation rates, for Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. Karen E. Kohfeld, Stephen G. Chastain, Marlow G. Pellatt, Carolina Olid https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.947825

Download
Co-editor-in-chief
The carbon accumulation rates of the described salt marsh soils are approximately 2-7 times greater than net C uptake rates of Canadian boreal forests, which highlights their potential importance as C reservoirs and the need to consider their C accumulation capacity as a climate mitigation co-benefit when conserving for other salt marsh ecosystem services.
Read more
Short summary
Salt marshes are thought to be important carbon sinks because of their ability to store carbon in their soils. We provide the first estimates of how much blue carbon is stored in salt marshes on the Pacific coast of Canada. We find that the carbon stored in the marshes is low compared to other marshes around the world, likely because of their young age. Still, the high marshes take up carbon at rates faster than the global average, making them potentially important carbon sinks in the future.
Read more
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint