A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection

Abstract Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) exhibit remarkable capacities for organic carbon (C) storage, making them a promising nature‐based climate solution. However, the lack of robust, spatially explicit estimates of C stocks in BCEs presents a major challenge to incorporating them into national and...

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Main Authors: Shaobo Sun, Zhaoliang Song, Laodong Guo, Carlos M. Duarte, Peter I. Macreadie, Zhen Zhang, Yunying Fang, Baozhang Chen, Zhengang Wang, Weiqi Wang, Yidong Wang, Dongjie Fu, Yuan Li, Yafei Wang, Hailong Wang, Cong‐Qiang Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-05-01
Series:Earth's Future
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005380
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author Shaobo Sun
Zhaoliang Song
Laodong Guo
Carlos M. Duarte
Peter I. Macreadie
Zhen Zhang
Yunying Fang
Baozhang Chen
Zhengang Wang
Weiqi Wang
Yidong Wang
Dongjie Fu
Yuan Li
Yafei Wang
Hailong Wang
Cong‐Qiang Liu
author_facet Shaobo Sun
Zhaoliang Song
Laodong Guo
Carlos M. Duarte
Peter I. Macreadie
Zhen Zhang
Yunying Fang
Baozhang Chen
Zhengang Wang
Weiqi Wang
Yidong Wang
Dongjie Fu
Yuan Li
Yafei Wang
Hailong Wang
Cong‐Qiang Liu
author_sort Shaobo Sun
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) exhibit remarkable capacities for organic carbon (C) storage, making them a promising nature‐based climate solution. However, the lack of robust, spatially explicit estimates of C stocks in BCEs presents a major challenge to incorporating them into national and global C accounting and climate mitigation strategies. For the first time, we develop spatially explicit estimates of both soil and living biomass C stocks in BCEs across China by integrating open‐access remote sensing, climate, and soil property data with 2,899 site measurements using a data‐driven method. Our C stock estimates reveal that mean C stocks in BCEs significantly decrease with increasing latitude. We estimate the total C storage within China's BCEs at 121.1 ± 48.4 Tg C, with soil accounting for 90% of the total C storage. Tidal marshes and flats contribute a total of 64.7 ± 8.7 Tg C, while mangroves store a much smaller amount (4.4 ± 1.4 Tg C) due to their limited spatial extent. Seagrasses store a total of 52.0 ± 38.3 Tg C, which is significantly larger than previous estimates. These findings underscore the significant potential of BCEs protection and restoration for China's climate mitigation efforts. Our spatially explicit C stock estimates for China's BCEs provide essential data for national and global C accounting and can serve as baselines for quantifying the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on BCEs C stocks. Additionally, this study offers a practical framework for comprehensively assessing C stocks in BCEs at the national scale.
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spelling doaj-art-e6bd6bcd7af6463f9fdb5e69b4e5547e2025-08-20T03:05:42ZengWileyEarth's Future2328-42772025-05-01135n/an/a10.1029/2024EF005380A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and ProtectionShaobo Sun0Zhaoliang Song1Laodong Guo2Carlos M. Duarte3Peter I. Macreadie4Zhen Zhang5Yunying Fang6Baozhang Chen7Zhengang Wang8Weiqi Wang9Yidong Wang10Dongjie Fu11Yuan Li12Yafei Wang13Hailong Wang14Cong‐Qiang Liu15Institute of Surface‐Earth System Science School of Earth System Science Tianjin University Tianjin ChinaInstitute of Surface‐Earth System Science School of Earth System Science Tianjin University Tianjin ChinaSchool of Freshwater Sciences University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee Milwaukee WI USABiological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division Red Sea Research Center and Computational Bioscience Research Center King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal Saudi ArabiaCentre for Integrative Ecology School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Burwood VIC AustraliaState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (TPDC) Environment and Resource (TPESER) Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaAustralian Rivers Institute School of Environment and Science Griffith University Brisbane QLD AustraliaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning Sun Yat‐Sen University Guangzhou ChinaKey Laboratory of Humid Subtropical Eco‐Geographical Process Ministry of Education Fujian Normal University Fuzhou ChinaTianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment Tianjin Normal University Tianjin ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Yantai ChinaKey Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaSchool of Environmental and Chemical Engineering Foshan University Foshan ChinaInstitute of Surface‐Earth System Science School of Earth System Science Tianjin University Tianjin ChinaAbstract Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) exhibit remarkable capacities for organic carbon (C) storage, making them a promising nature‐based climate solution. However, the lack of robust, spatially explicit estimates of C stocks in BCEs presents a major challenge to incorporating them into national and global C accounting and climate mitigation strategies. For the first time, we develop spatially explicit estimates of both soil and living biomass C stocks in BCEs across China by integrating open‐access remote sensing, climate, and soil property data with 2,899 site measurements using a data‐driven method. Our C stock estimates reveal that mean C stocks in BCEs significantly decrease with increasing latitude. We estimate the total C storage within China's BCEs at 121.1 ± 48.4 Tg C, with soil accounting for 90% of the total C storage. Tidal marshes and flats contribute a total of 64.7 ± 8.7 Tg C, while mangroves store a much smaller amount (4.4 ± 1.4 Tg C) due to their limited spatial extent. Seagrasses store a total of 52.0 ± 38.3 Tg C, which is significantly larger than previous estimates. These findings underscore the significant potential of BCEs protection and restoration for China's climate mitigation efforts. Our spatially explicit C stock estimates for China's BCEs provide essential data for national and global C accounting and can serve as baselines for quantifying the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on BCEs C stocks. Additionally, this study offers a practical framework for comprehensively assessing C stocks in BCEs at the national scale.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005380coastal wetlandsblue carbonmangrovessalt marshestidal flatsseagrasses
spellingShingle Shaobo Sun
Zhaoliang Song
Laodong Guo
Carlos M. Duarte
Peter I. Macreadie
Zhen Zhang
Yunying Fang
Baozhang Chen
Zhengang Wang
Weiqi Wang
Yidong Wang
Dongjie Fu
Yuan Li
Yafei Wang
Hailong Wang
Cong‐Qiang Liu
A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
Earth's Future
coastal wetlands
blue carbon
mangroves
salt marshes
tidal flats
seagrasses
title A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
title_full A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
title_fullStr A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
title_full_unstemmed A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
title_short A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection
title_sort spatial baseline of china s blue carbon stocks for improved monitoring management and protection
topic coastal wetlands
blue carbon
mangroves
salt marshes
tidal flats
seagrasses
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005380
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