Brian A. Bergamaschi David Butman Frank Anderson Sara Knox Lisamarie Windham-Myers Matthew Bogard 2020 <div class="abstract-group"><div class="article-section__content en main"><p>Coastal wetlands are among the most productive habitats on Earth and sequester globally significant amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). Extreme rates of soil C accumulation are widely assumed to reflect efficient C storage. Yet the fraction of wetland C lost via hydrologic export has not been directly quantified, since comprehensive budgets including direct estimates of lateral C loss are lacking. We present a complete net ecosystem C budget (NECB), demonstrating that lateral losses of C are a major component of the NECB for the largest stable brackish tidal marsh on the U.S. Pacific coast. Mean annual net ecosystem exchange of CO₂<span>&nbsp;</span>with the atmosphere (NEE&nbsp;=&nbsp;−185&nbsp;g C m²<span>&nbsp;</span>year⁻¹, negative NEE denoting ecosystem uptake) was compared to long-term soil C burial (87–110&nbsp;g C m²<span>&nbsp;</span>year⁻¹), suggesting only 47–59% of fixed atmospheric C accumulates in soils. Consistently, direct monitoring in 2017–2018 showed NEE of −255&nbsp;g C m⁻²&nbsp;year⁻¹, and hydrologic export of 105&nbsp;g C m⁻²&nbsp;year⁻¹<span>&nbsp;</span>(59% of NEE remaining on site). Despite their high C sequestration capacity, lateral losses from coastal wetlands are typically a larger fraction of the NECB when compared to other terrestrial ecosystems. Loss of inorganic C (the least measured NECB term) was 91% of hydrologic export and may be the most important term limiting C sequestration. The high productivity of coastal wetlands thus serves a dual function of C burial and estuarine export, and the multiple fates of fixed C must be considered when evaluating wetland capacity for C sequestration.</p></div></div> application/pdf 10.1029/2019GB006430 en American Geophysical Union Hydrologic export is a major component of coastal wetland carbon budgets article