Carbon stocks in southern England's intertidal seagrass meadows

This study directly analyses total carbon stock (C stocks ) samples from the Isle of Wight, Solent, and adjacent harbours in southern England, including organic carbon (Corg ) stored in the sediment and plant biomass, providing a new assessment for intertidal seagrass meadows in the UK. Results from this study contribute to global blue carbon research by reporting the first direct assessment of sediment C stocks in the top metre of intertidal seagrass meadows from the Solent region, with significant C stocks , on average 103.12 ± 71.45 MgC ha -1 , comparable to other global regions. This study also compared sediment %C org and percentage of organic matter (%OM) within seagrass meadows and adjacent, un-vegetated, sampling points, showing that un-vegetated mudflats had higher %C org and %OM than seagrass for most sites, apart from Hayling Island. This study shows that %OM can be confidently used as a proxy to determine sediment %C org values in intertidal seagrass meadows. These results support the inclusion of the region’s seagrass meadows in conservation and restoration projects, aiming not only to conserve the C stored in their soils, but also increase their future C uptake potential.