Abstract. Studies on carbon stock in salt marsh sediments have increased since the review by Chmura et al. (2003). However, uncertainties exist in estimating global carbon storage in these vulnerable coastal habitats, thus hindering the assessment of their importance. Combining direct data and indirect estimation, this study compiled studies involving 143 sites across the Southern and Northern hemispheres, and provides an updated estimate of the global average carbon accumulation rate (CAR) at 244.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in salt marsh sediments. Based on region-specific CAR and estimates of salt marsh area in various geographic regions between 40° S to 69.7° N, total CAR in global salt marsh sediments is estimated at ~10.2 Tg C yr−1. Latitude, tidal range and elevation appear to be important drivers for CAR of salt marsh sediments, with considerable variation among different biogeographic regions. The data indicate that while the capacity for carbon sequestration by salt marsh sediments ranked the first amongst coastal wetland and forested terrestrial ecosystems, their carbon budget was the smallest due to their limited and declining global areal extent. However, some uncertainties remain for our global estimate owing to limited data availability.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates play an important functional role in energy transfer in food webs, linking basal food sources to upper trophic levels that include fish, birds, and humans. However, the trophic coupling of nutritional quality between macroinvertebrates and their food sources is still poorly understood. We conducted a field study in subalpine streams in Austria to investigate how the nutritional quality (measured by long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, LC‐PUFAs) in macroinvertebrates changes relative to their basal food sources. Samples of macroinvertebrates, periphyton, and leaves were collected from 17 streams in July and October 2016 and their fatty acid (FA) composition was analyzed. Periphyton FA varied strongly with time and space, and their trophic effect on macroinvertebrate FA differed among functional feeding groups. The match between periphyton FA and macroinvertebrate FA decreased with increasing trophic levels, but LC‐PUFA content increased with each trophic step from periphyton to grazers and finally predators. Macroinvertebrates fed selectively on, assimilated, and/or actively controlled their LC‐PUFA, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20 : 5ω3) relative to their basal food sources in the face of spatial and temporal changes. Grazer FA profiles reflected periphyton FA with relatively good fidelity, and especially their EPA feeding strategy was primarily linked to periphyton FA variation across seasons. In contrast, shredders appeared to preferentially assimilate more EPA over other FA, which was determined by the availability of high‐quality food over seasons. Predators may more actively control their LC‐PUFA distribution with respect to different quality foods and showed less fidelity to the basal FA profiles in plants and prey. Overall, grazers and shredders showed relatively good fidelity to food FA profiles and performed as both “collectors” and “integrators” for LC‐PUFA requirements across seasons, while predators at higher trophic levels were more “integrators” with added metabolic complexity leading to somewhat more divergent FA profiles. These results are potentially applicable for other aquatic consumers in freshwater and marine ecosystems.

This study aims to determine the drivers of root decomposition and its role in carbon (C) budgets in mangroves and saltmarsh. We review the patterns of root decomposition, and its contribution to C budgets, in mangroves and saltmarsh: the impact of climatic (temperature and precipitation), geographic (latitude), temporal (decay period) and biotic (ecosystem type) drivers using multiple regression models. Best-fit models explain 50% and 48% of the variance in mangrove and saltmarsh root decay rates, respectively. A combination of biotic, climatic, geographic and temporal drivers influence root decay rates. Rainfall and latitude have the strongest influence on root decomposition rates in saltmarsh. For mangroves, forest type is the most important; decomposition is faster in riverine mangroves than other types. Mangrove species Avicennia marina and saltmarsh species Spartina maritima and Phragmites australis have the highest root decomposition rates. Root decomposition rates of mangroves were slightly higher in the Indo-west Pacific region (average 0.16 % day-1) than in the Atlantic-east Pacific region (0.13 % day-1). Mangrove root decomposition rates also show a negative exponential relationship with porewater salinity. In mangroves, global root decomposition rates are 0.15 % day-1 based on the median value of rates in individual studies (and 0.14 % day-1 after adjusting for area of mangroves at different latitudes). In saltmarsh, global root decomposition rates average 0.12 % day-1 (no adjustment for area with latitude necessary). Our global estimate of the amount of root decomposing is 10 Tg C yr-1 in mangroves (8 Tg C yr-1 adjusted for area by latitude) and 31 Tg C yr-1 in saltmarsh. Local root C burial rates reported herein are 51-54 g C m-2 yr-1 for mangroves (58-61 Tg C yr-1 adjusted for area by latitude) and 191 g C m-2 yr-1 for saltmarsh. These values account for 24.1-29.1% (mangroves) and 77.9% (saltmarsh) of the reported sediment C accumulation rates in these habitats. Globally, dead root C production is the significant source of stored sediment C in mangroves and saltmarsh.

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Tidal wetlands are global hotspots of carbon storage but errors exist with current estimates on their carbon density due to the use of factors estimated from other habitats for converting loss-on-ignition (LOI) to organic carbon (OC); and the omission of certain significant carbon pools. Here we show that the widely used conversion factor (LOI/OC = 1.724) is significantly lower than our measurements for saltmarsh sediments (1.92 ± 0.01) and oversimplifies the polynomial relationship between sediment OC and LOI for mangrove forests. Global mangrove OC stock in the top-meter sediment reaches 1.93 Pg when corrected for this bias, and is 20% lower than the previous estimates. Ecosystem carbon stock (living and dead biomass, sediment OC and inorganic carbon) is estimated at 3.7-6.2 Pg. Mangrove deforestation leads to carbon emission rates at 23.5-38.7 Tg yr −1 after 2000. Mangrove sediment OC stock has previously been overestimated while ecosystem carbon stock underestimated.