title: Carbon sequestration by Australian tidal marshes.
abstract: Australia's tidal marshes have suffered significant losses but their recently recognised importance in CO2sequestration is creating opportunities for their protection and restoration. We compiled all available data on soil organic carbon (OC) storage in Australia's tidal marshes (323 cores). OC stocks in the surface 1 m averaged 165.41 (SE 6.96) Mg OC ha-1(range 14-963 Mg OC ha-1). The mean OC accumulation rate was 0.55 ± 0.02 Mg OC ha-1yr-1. Geomorphology was the most important predictor of OC stocks, with fluvial sites having twice the stock of OC as seaward sites. Australia's 1.4 million hectares of tidal marshes contain an estimated 212 million tonnes of OC in the surface 1 m, with a potential CO2-equivalent value of $USD7.19 billion. Annual sequestration is 0.75 Tg OC yr-1, with a CO2-equivalent value of $USD28.02 million per annum. This study provides the most comprehensive estimates of tidal marsh blue carbon in Australia, and illustrates their importance in climate change mitigation and adaptation, acting as CO2sinks and buffering the impacts of rising sea level. We outline potential further development of carbon offset schemes to restore the sequestration capacity and other ecosystem services provided by Australia tidal marshes.
authors.affiliation: Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.|Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, 2007 Australia.
authors.forename: Peter I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Macreadie
authors.affiliation: Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Q R
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Ollivier
authors.affiliation: Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, 2007 Australia.|Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: School of Science &Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia.|UWA Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: O
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authors.affiliation: Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.
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authors.initials: PE
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authors.affiliation: Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: CSIRO Agriculture and Food, PMB2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Australian Rivers Institute - Coast &Estuaries, and School of Environment, Gold Coast campus, Griffith University, Queensland, 4222 Australia.
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authors.initials: RM
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authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
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authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: School of Science &Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia.|Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Blanes 17300, Spain.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
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authors.affiliation: CSIRO Ocean and Atmosphere Flagship, Ecosciences Precinct, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072.
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authors.initials: CE
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