Influence of landscape characteristics and submerged aquatic vegetation on sediment carbon and nitrogen storage in shallow brackish water habitats.

ABSTRACT: While marine seagrass habitats are acknowledged as sinks for carbon and nutrients, much less is known about sequestration in brackish-water vegetation. Here, we quantify the amount of organic carbon (C_org) and total nitrogen (TN) in shallow bay sediments (0-25 cm) in the brackish Baltic Sea and assess how it varies with morphometric isolation from the sea, catchment characteristics and abundance of brackish-water vegetation. The sedimentary C_org and TN content per surface area varied across the bay isolation gradient (mean C_org: 2500-4600 g/m²; mean TN: 320-570 g/m²), with enclosed bays having the highest percentage content of C_org and TN, but low sediment density (< 0.1 g cm³), while open bays had more compact se

SUBMITTER: Wikstrom SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11885652 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature