Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration

McMahon, Lucy; Ladd, Cai; Burden, Annette; Garrett, Ed; Redeker, Kelly R.; Lawrence, Peter; Gehrels, Roland

doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607

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Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration

Lucy McMahon, Cai Ladd

, Annette Burden, Ed Garrett, Kelly R. Redeker, Peter Lawrence, Roland Gehrels

Frontiers in Marine Science, Volume: 10

Swansea University Author: Cai Ladd

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© 2023 McMahon, Ladd, Burden, Garrett, Redeker, Lawrence and Gehrels. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0).
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DOI (Published version): 10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607

Abstract

Political discourse around coastal wetland restoration and blue carbon management strategies has increased in the past decade, yet carbon storage has neither been a reason for restoration, nor a criterion to measure the success of current saltmarsh restoration schemes in the UK. To maximise climate...

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Published in:	Frontiers in Marine Science
ISSN:	2296-7745
Published:	Frontiers Media SA 2023
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URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64474
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To maximise climate change mitigation through saltmarsh restoration, knowledge on the key drivers of carbon stock variability is required. We use restored saltmarshes of similar age, paired with adjacent natural marshes as references, to identify drivers of carbon stocks following managed realignment within an estuary in southeastern England. From surficial soil cores (top 30 cm), we measured carbon stock alongside environmental characteristics. Carbon stock between natural and restored sites were similar after ~ 30 years when restored sites were above mean high water neap (MHWN) tidal levels. Elevated marsh platforms likely provide suitable conditions for the development of mature plant communities associated with greater capture and production of organic carbon. The restored site at Tollesbury (Essex, UK) had a 2-fold lower carbon stock than other restored sites in the estuary. We attribute this to the site’s low position in the tidal frame, below MHWN tidal levels, coupled with low sediment supply and the dominance of pioneer plant communities. As blue carbon is anticipated to become an important facet of saltmarsh restoration, we recommend that sites above MHWN tidal levels are selected for managed realignment or that preference is given to coastlines with a high sediment supply that may rapidly elevate realignment sites above MHWN. Alternatively, elevation could be artificially raised prior to realignment. Restoration schemes aiming to maximise climate change mitigation should also encourage the establishment of key plant species (e.g., Atriplex portulacoides in our study) to enhance carbon stocks. 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spelling	v2 64474 2023-09-08 Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration 134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462 0000-0001-5437-6474 Cai Ladd Cai Ladd true false 2023-09-08 SGE Political discourse around coastal wetland restoration and blue carbon management strategies has increased in the past decade, yet carbon storage has neither been a reason for restoration, nor a criterion to measure the success of current saltmarsh restoration schemes in the UK. To maximise climate change mitigation through saltmarsh restoration, knowledge on the key drivers of carbon stock variability is required. We use restored saltmarshes of similar age, paired with adjacent natural marshes as references, to identify drivers of carbon stocks following managed realignment within an estuary in southeastern England. From surficial soil cores (top 30 cm), we measured carbon stock alongside environmental characteristics. Carbon stock between natural and restored sites were similar after ~ 30 years when restored sites were above mean high water neap (MHWN) tidal levels. Elevated marsh platforms likely provide suitable conditions for the development of mature plant communities associated with greater capture and production of organic carbon. The restored site at Tollesbury (Essex, UK) had a 2-fold lower carbon stock than other restored sites in the estuary. We attribute this to the site’s low position in the tidal frame, below MHWN tidal levels, coupled with low sediment supply and the dominance of pioneer plant communities. As blue carbon is anticipated to become an important facet of saltmarsh restoration, we recommend that sites above MHWN tidal levels are selected for managed realignment or that preference is given to coastlines with a high sediment supply that may rapidly elevate realignment sites above MHWN. Alternatively, elevation could be artificially raised prior to realignment. Restoration schemes aiming to maximise climate change mitigation should also encourage the establishment of key plant species (e.g., Atriplex portulacoides in our study) to enhance carbon stocks. However, the overall goal of restoration ought to be carefully considered as trade-offs in ecosystem services may ensue if restoration for climate change mitigation alone is pursued. Journal Article Frontiers in Marine Science 10 Frontiers Media SA 2296-7745 Blue carbon, saltmarsh habitat, ecosystem restoration, relative tidal height, vegetation zonation 30 3 2023 2023-03-30 10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607 COLLEGE NANME Geography COLLEGE CODE SGE Swansea University This research forms part of an Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment (ACCE) Doctoral Training Partnership funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) (NE/L002450/1). CL, AB and RG were funded by NERC grant NE/R010846/1 (Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environments; C-SIDE). NE/L002450/1, NE/R010846/1 2023-10-09T16:09:49.2839725 2023-09-08T09:57:54.2272621 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography Lucy McMahon 1 Cai Ladd 0000-0001-5437-6474 2 Annette Burden 3 Ed Garrett 4 Kelly R. Redeker 5 Peter Lawrence 6 Roland Gehrels 7 64474__28571__2e030b25aef543288e0a2af0450ac5e5.pdf 64474.pdf 2023-09-19T09:52:15.5708673 Output 2550949 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2023 McMahon, Ladd, Burden, Garrett, Redeker, Lawrence and Gehrels. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). false eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
spellingShingle	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration Cai Ladd
title_short	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
title_full	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
title_fullStr	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
title_full_unstemmed	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
title_sort	Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration
author_id_str_mv	134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462
author_id_fullname_str_mv	134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462_***_Cai Ladd
author	Cai Ladd
author2	Lucy McMahon Cai Ladd Annette Burden Ed Garrett Kelly R. Redeker Peter Lawrence Roland Gehrels
format	Journal article
container_title	Frontiers in Marine Science
container_volume	10
publishDate	2023
institution	Swansea University
issn	2296-7745
doi_str_mv	10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607
publisher	Frontiers Media SA
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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department_str	School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography
url	http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1106607
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description	Political discourse around coastal wetland restoration and blue carbon management strategies has increased in the past decade, yet carbon storage has neither been a reason for restoration, nor a criterion to measure the success of current saltmarsh restoration schemes in the UK. To maximise climate change mitigation through saltmarsh restoration, knowledge on the key drivers of carbon stock variability is required. We use restored saltmarshes of similar age, paired with adjacent natural marshes as references, to identify drivers of carbon stocks following managed realignment within an estuary in southeastern England. From surficial soil cores (top 30 cm), we measured carbon stock alongside environmental characteristics. Carbon stock between natural and restored sites were similar after ~ 30 years when restored sites were above mean high water neap (MHWN) tidal levels. Elevated marsh platforms likely provide suitable conditions for the development of mature plant communities associated with greater capture and production of organic carbon. The restored site at Tollesbury (Essex, UK) had a 2-fold lower carbon stock than other restored sites in the estuary. We attribute this to the site’s low position in the tidal frame, below MHWN tidal levels, coupled with low sediment supply and the dominance of pioneer plant communities. As blue carbon is anticipated to become an important facet of saltmarsh restoration, we recommend that sites above MHWN tidal levels are selected for managed realignment or that preference is given to coastlines with a high sediment supply that may rapidly elevate realignment sites above MHWN. Alternatively, elevation could be artificially raised prior to realignment. Restoration schemes aiming to maximise climate change mitigation should also encourage the establishment of key plant species (e.g., Atriplex portulacoides in our study) to enhance carbon stocks. However, the overall goal of restoration ought to be carefully considered as trade-offs in ecosystem services may ensue if restoration for climate change mitigation alone is pursued.
published_date	2023-03-30T16:09:50Z
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Maximizing blue carbon stocks through saltmarsh restoration

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