Shallow Coastal Bays as Sediment Carbon and Nutrient Reservoirs in the Baltic SeaShow others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: Estuaries and Coasts, ISSN 1559-2723, E-ISSN 1559-2731, Vol. 48, no 5, article id 136Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Coastal vegetated ecosystems are being increasingly recognized for their capacity to capture carbon, provide long-term biogenic storage, and alleviate nutrient pollution. To assess the ability of shallow, vegetated coastal bays to function as blue carbon and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) sinks, we collected sediment cores in nine shallow enclosed bays (representative of the EU Habitats 1153 and 1154) in the archipelago areas of Sweden (Stockholm), Åland Island, and southwestern Finland. Our study showed strong uniformity of carbon and nutrient storage, substantial accumulation of carbon and nutrients, and minimal regional differences in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sediment stocks. These findings are noteworthy given the large area (142 km2) the shallow enclosed bays cover and the multiple important ecosystem services they provide in the northern Baltic Sea seascape. An initial first-order estimate for the shallow bay ecosystems across the study region indicates that these ecosystems potentially store 84,000 to 430,000 t organic carbon over the top 25 cm sediment. The positive correlation between carbon and nitrogen stocks, and the potentially organically bound nature of phosphorus in sediment, suggests that climate regulation services can be managed in unison with nutrient management efforts. The findings, also considering the consistent pattern of slow sedimentation and accumulation, underscore the importance of protecting shallow coastal bays as carbon and nutrient sinks in the Baltic Sea region.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2025. Vol. 48, no 5, article id 136
Keywords [en]
Blue carbon, Carbon and nutrient sinks, Sedimentary stocks, Sequestration rates, Shallow enclosed bays, Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Finland, Stockholm, archipelago, bay, carbon sequestration, carbon sink, coastal zone, ecosystem service, nutrient, organic carbon, sedimentary rock, sedimentation rate
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-57737DOI: 10.1007/s12237-025-01541-0ISI: 001514415100001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105008772520OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-57737DiVA, id: diva2:1980178
Part of project
Climate change mitigation capacity of the Baltic coastal seascape: identification of hotspot environments for coastal blue carbon sequestration and guidance for sustainable management of the Baltic coastal landscapes under global change (CLIM-SCAPE), The Foundation for Baltic and East European StudiesClimate change mitigation capacity of Swedish coastal seascapes, Swedish Research Council FormasUnravelling the relative influence of climate and land-use change on nitrogen retention in Baltic Sea coastal sediments over the last 300 years, The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 21-PD2-0002The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 21-GP-0005Swedish Research Council Formas, 2021–012802025-07-012025-07-012025-10-07Bibliographically approved