The Blue Carbon Timescale Network (BCTN) is looking to better understand variability in carbon burial for coastal vegetated ecosystems (e.g. mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows) through space (global) and time (modern to millennia) due to the importance of these ecosystems as global carbon storage sites. However, our understanding of blue carbon stocks and burial is limited due to limited stock estimates from many areas of the world with extensive coastal vegetated ecosystems as well as large uncertainties related to variations in methods used to measure carbon stocks. To improve this knowledge gap, we at Yale University are offering free radiocarbon (14C) analyses, as well as total organic carbon (TOC) analyses if not previously measured, on soil samples collected from coastal vegetated ecosystems. We hope to expand carbon stock and carbon burial analyses to regions of the world with very limited data on blue carbon ecosystems, including parts of South America, Africa, and Asia.
In addition to the primary goal described above on improving our understanding of blue carbon stock and burial rate variability, there are several secondary goals associated with this network, including:
- Use collected data to develop a model that will aid in locating high priority sites for future long-term blue carbon burial studies (i.e. targeted sampling). Then develop sampling kits to send out to potential colleagues in these areas.
- Better understand the timescales associated with blue carbon storage.
- Better understand blue carbon stock variability with geomorphic and sedimentary properties. This would involve knowing current landscape features of each site and possible additional analyses to constrain changes in geomorphic settings over time.
In addition to providing free 14C and TOC analyses to improve global carbon stock estimates for coastal vegetated ecosystems, we can provide other analyses including carbon and nitrogen isotopes for determining changes in carbon sources in these wetlands over time, as well as Pb-210 and Cs-137 for estimating recent carbon burial. As we continue to build collaborations within this network, there may be potential to incorporate more analyses to this list, including molecular biomarkers and compound-specific isotopes/14C.