Journal article
Coastal vegetation and estuaries are collectively a greenhouse gas sink
Nature climate change, Vol.13, pp.579-587
06/2023
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Source: InCites
Abstract
Coastal ecosystems release or absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), but the net effects of these ecosystems on the radiative balance remain unknown. We compiled a dataset of observations from 738 sites from studies published between 1975 and 2020 to quantify CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes in estuaries and coastal vegetation in ten global regions. We show that the CO2-equivalent (CO2e) uptake by coastal vegetation is decreased by 23–27% due to estuarine CO2e outgassing, resulting in a global median net sink of 391 or 444 TgCO2e yr−1 using the 20- or 100-year global warming potentials, respectively. Globally, total coastal CH4 and N2O emissions decrease the coastal CO2 sink by 9–20%. Southeast Asia, North America and Africa are critical regional hotspots of GHG sinks. Understanding these hotspots can guide our efforts to strengthen coastal CO2 uptake while effectively reducing CH4 and N2O emissions.
Details
- Title
- Coastal vegetation and estuaries are collectively a greenhouse gas sink
- Creators
- Judith A Rosentreter (Corresponding Author) - Southern Cross UniversityGoulven G Laruelle - Université Libre de BruxellesHermann Bange - GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research KielThomas S Bianchi - University of FloridaJulius J. M. Busecke - Columbia UniversityWei-Jun Cai - University of DelawareBradley D Eyre - Southern Cross UniversityInke Forbrich - Marine Biological LaboratoryEun Young Kwon - Institute for Basic ScienceTaylor Maavara - Yale UniversityNils Moosdorf - Southern Cross UniversityRaymond G. Najjar - Pennsylvania State UniversityV. V. S. S. Sarma - National Institute of OceanographyBryce Van Dam - Helmholtz-Zentrum HereonPierre Regnier - Université Libre de Bruxelles
- Publication Details
- Nature climate change, Vol.13, pp.579-587
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Identifiers
- 991013120113802368
- Copyright
- Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article