Recently, Associate Professor Shaobo Sun from Professor Zhaoliang Song’s group at School of Earth System Science of Tianjin University, in collaboration with Professor Laodong Guo from the University of Wisconsin, Professor Carlos M. Duarte from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Professor Peter I. Macreadie from Deakin University, and other researchers from 14 domestic and international institutions, integrated data from 2,899 field sites along with satellite remote sensing, climate, and soil environmental variables, established data-driven models and produced a spatially explicit dataset of organic carbon stocks in China’s coastal blue carbon ecosystems. This work systematically assessed the organic carbon stock and its spatiotemporal distribution across China’s coastal wetlands. The results were published in Earth’s Future under the title “A Spatial Baseline of China’s Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection.”
Figure 1. Distribution of coastal blue carbon ecosystems across China
Figure 2. Spatial patterns and latitudinal variations of mean C stocks per unit area and total C storage at the prefecture level in the coastal blue carbon ecosystems across China.
(a-c) Mean C stocks per unit area of tidal marshes and flats, mangroves, and seagrasses, respectively (sum of soil organic C stocks, aboveground biomass C stocks, and below ground biomass C stocks). (d) Latitudinal variations of C stocks per unit area for mangroves, tidal marshes and flats, and seagrasses. (e-g) Total C stocks of tidal marshes and flats, mangroves, and seagrasses within corresponding prefectures, respectively. (h) Latitudinal variations of total C stocks for mangroves, tidal marshes and flats, and seagrasses. (i) C stocks per unit area of all BCEs. (j) Total C stocks of all BCEs. (k) Latitudinal variations of C stocks per unit area of all BCEs. (l) Latitudinal variations of total C stocks of all BCEs.
This study highlights the significant potential of conserving and restoring blue carbon ecosystems in climate change mitigation, and provides baseline data for evaluating the impacts of climate change and human activities on carbon stocks in blue carbon ecosystems. The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 42171462, 42225101, and 42141014).
Sun S, Song Z*., Guo L., Duarte CM., Macreadie PI., Zhang Z., Fang Y., Chen B., Wang Z., Wang W., Wang Y., Fu D., Li Y., Wang Y., Wang H., and Liu C. 2025. A Spatial Baseline of China's Blue Carbon Stocks for Improved Monitoring, Management, and Protection. Earth’s Future. 13, e2024EF005380. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005380.
