Articles | Volume 19, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5751-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5751-2022
Research article
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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

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Cited articles

Abbott, K. M., Elsey-Quirk, T., and DeLaune, R. D.: Factors influencing blue carbon accumulation across a 32-year chronosequence of created coastal marshes, Ecosphere, 10, e02828, https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2828, 2019. 
Abdul-Aziz, O. I., Ishtiaq, K. S., Tang, J., Moseman-Valtierra, S., Kroeger, K. D., Gonneea, M. E., Mora, J., and Morkeski, K.: Environmental controls, emergent scaling, and predictions of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in coastal salt marshes, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 123, 2234–2256, https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1029/2018JG004556 
Adams, C. A., Andrews, J. E., and Jickells, T.: Nitrous oxide and methane fluxes vs. carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous burial in new intertidal and saltmarsh sediments, Sci. Total Environ., 434, 240–251, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.11.058, 2012. 
Arias-Ortiz, A., Masqué, P., Garcia-Orellana, J., Serrano, O., Mazarrasa, I., Marbà, N., Lovelock, C. E., Lavery, P. S., and Duarte, C. M.: Reviews and syntheses: 210Pb-derived sediment and carbon accumulation rates in vegetated coastal ecosystems – setting the record straight, Biogeosciences, 15, 6791–6818, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6791-2018, 2018. 
Bridgham, S. D., Megonigal, J. P., Keller, J. K., Bliss, N. B., and Trettin, C.: The carbon balance of North American wetlands, Wetlands, 26, 889–916, https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2006)26[889:TCBONA]2.0.CO;2, 2006. 
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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.
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.
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