Blue Carbon

Coastal vegetated ecosystems like seagrass meadows, salt marshes, mangroves can sequester organic carbon at climate-relevant scales, yet the impact of vertical greenhouse gas exchange on the climate value of these ecosystems remains poorly constrained. We study the coupled biogeochemical and physical processes that drive Blue Carbon habitats to either absorb or release CO₂ and other GHGs, which in some cases can meet or exceed carbon burial, either increasing the climate benefit of these habitats or reversing it entirely. Our work on this topic has one foot anchored firmly in fundamental coastal biogeochemistry, and another in the applied work needed to appraise the reliability of Blue Carbon as a nature based climate solution.