Australian vegetated coastal ecosystems as global hotspots for climate change mitigation

Abstract Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE; tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrasses) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here, we present organic carbon (C) storage in VCE across Australian climate regions and estimate potential annual CO 2 emission benefits of VCE conservation and restoration. Australia contributes 5–11% of the C stored in VCE globally (70–185 Tg C in aboveground biomass, and 1,055–1,540 Tg C in the upper 1 m of soils). Potential CO 2 emissions from current VCE losses are estimated at 2.1–3.1 Tg CO 2 -e yr -1 , increasing annual CO 2 emissions from land use change in Australia by 12–21%. This assessment, the…

• DO
  Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, State Government of Victoria
• PV
  Parks Victoria
• CS
  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• AI
  Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
• GD
  Generalitat de Catalunya

  Awards: MDM2015-0552, 2014 SGR-1356, MERS 2014 SGR-1356
• MD
  Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

  Awards: MDM2015-0552, MinECo, MDM2015-0552