Table 1 Basic characteristics of the study sites (organic matter content, above-ground biomass, wetland area, vegetation area, dominant species) and mean soil organic carbon content in estuarine salt marshes, mean (5th to 95th percentile). N refers to number of sampling points from other studies. This is done by Monte Carlo simulation from values in literature. Source of references are listed in Additional file 1: Table S1
Study site | N | Soil organic matter content (%) | Above-ground biomass (g m−2) | Costal wetland area (km2) | Vegetation area (km2) | Dominant species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Impacted Salt Marsh | 40 | 1.05–4.15 (2.09) | 61–3764 (1039.19) | 1.907 | 0.96 | Phragmites australis |
Pristine Salt Marsh | 36 | 0.1–6.05 (2.89) | 20–1640 (642.45) | 2.04 | 2.04 | Phragmites australis |
Pristine Mud Flat | 85 | 0.3–11.35 (4.46) | – | 22.6 | – | – |
Impacted Mud Flat 1 | 54 | 0.39–13.21 (2.85) | – | 243.6 | – | – |
Impacted Mud Flat 2 | 39 | 0.48–6.73 (2.03) | – | 81.9 | – | – |
Study site | C storage per unit area (kg m−2) | C storage in soil up to 1 m (Gg) | C storage in Phragmites community (Gg) | Note | ||
Impacted Salt Marsh | 14.6 (8.5–23.2) | 27.2 (16.2–42.9) | 0.5 (0.1–1.3) | Restored area | ||
Pristine Salt Marsh | 19.8 (3.0–34.8) | 39.7 (6.0–69.7) | 0.6 (0.1–1.3) | Natural area |