Coastal vegetation and estuaries are collectively a greenhouse gas sink

Coastal ecosystems release or absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), but the net effects of these ecosystems on the radiative balance remain unknown. We compiled a dataset of observations from 738 sites from studies published between 1975 and 2020 to quantify CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes in estuaries and coastal vegetation in ten global regions. We show that the CO2-equivalent (CO(2)e) uptake by coastal vegetation is decreased by 23-27% due to estuarine CO(2)e outgassing, resulting in a global median net sink of 391 or 444 TgCO(2)e yr(-1) using the 20- or 100-year global warming potentials, respectively. Globally, total coastal CH4 and N2O emissions decrease the coastal CO2 sink by 9-20%. Southeast Asia, North America and Africa are critical regional hotspots of GHG sinks. Understanding these hotspots can guide our efforts to strengthen coastal CO2 uptake while effectively reducing CH4 and N2O emissions. The authors show that estuarine and coastal vegetation are collectively a greenhouse gas (GHG) sink for the atmosphere, but methane and nitrous oxide emissions counteract the carbon dioxide uptake. Critical coastal GHG sink hotspots are identified in Southeast Asia, North America and Africa.

Automated summary

This article analyzes data from 738 observation sites and finds that coastal ecosystems have a certain absorption effect on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but methane and nitrous oxide emissions counteract the absorption of carbon dioxide. Southeast Asia, North America, and Africa are identified as hotspots for coastal greenhouse gas absorption.