Nature Communications (Nov 2024)
Soil carbon in the world’s tidal marshes
- Tania L. Maxwell,
- Mark D. Spalding,
- Daniel A. Friess,
- Nicholas J. Murray,
- Kerrylee Rogers,
- Andre S. Rovai,
- Lindsey S. Smart,
- Lukas Weilguny,
- Maria Fernanda Adame,
- Janine B. Adams,
- William E. N. Austin,
- Margareth S. Copertino,
- Grace M. Cott,
- Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa,
- James R. Holmquist,
- Cai J. T. Ladd,
- Catherine E. Lovelock,
- Marvin Ludwig,
- Monica M. Moritsch,
- Alejandro Navarro,
- Jacqueline L. Raw,
- Ana-Carolina Ruiz-Fernández,
- Oscar Serrano,
- Craig Smeaton,
- Marijn Van de Broek,
- Lisamarie Windham-Myers,
- Emily Landis,
- Thomas A. Worthington
Affiliations
- Tania L. Maxwell
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
- Mark D. Spalding
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
- Daniel A. Friess
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University
- Nicholas J. Murray
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University
- Kerrylee Rogers
- Environmental Futures, School of Science, University of Wollongong
- Andre S. Rovai
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
- Lindsey S. Smart
- The Nature Conservancy
- Lukas Weilguny
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus
- Maria Fernanda Adame
- Australian Rivers Institute, Coastal and Marine Research Centre, Griffith University
- Janine B. Adams
- Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University
- William E. N. Austin
- School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews
- Margareth S. Copertino
- Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG)
- Grace M. Cott
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin
- Micheli Duarte de Paula Costa
- Deakin Marine Research and Innovation Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
- James R. Holmquist
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- Cai J. T. Ladd
- Department of Geography, Swansea University
- Catherine E. Lovelock
- School of Environment, The University of Queensland
- Marvin Ludwig
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster
- Monica M. Moritsch
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- Alejandro Navarro
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University
- Jacqueline L. Raw
- Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University
- Ana-Carolina Ruiz-Fernández
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Unidad Académica Mazatlán
- Oscar Serrano
- Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CEAB)
- Craig Smeaton
- School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews
- Marijn Van de Broek
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich)
- Lisamarie Windham-Myers
- California Delta Stewardship Council
- Emily Landis
- The Nature Conservancy
- Thomas A. Worthington
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54572-9
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 15,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 16
Abstract
Abstract Tidal marshes are threatened coastal ecosystems known for their capacity to store large amounts of carbon in their water-logged soils. Accurate quantification and mapping of global tidal marshes soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is of considerable value to conservation efforts. Here, we used training data from 3710 unique locations, landscape-level environmental drivers and a global tidal marsh extent map to produce a global, spatially explicit map of SOC storage in tidal marshes at 30 m resolution. Here we show the total global SOC stock to 1 m to be 1.44 Pg C, with a third of this value stored in the United States of America. On average, SOC in tidal marshes’ 0–30 and 30–100 cm soil layers are estimated at 83.1 Mg C ha−1 (average predicted error 44.8 Mg C ha−1) and 185.3 Mg C ha−1 (average predicted error 105.7 Mg C ha−1), respectively.
