<b>It’s time to broaden what we consider a ‘blue carbon ecosystem’</b>

Marine ecosystems are important in mitigating rising atmospheric CO₂ because of their capacity to store significant quantities of carbon (called blue carbon). To date, three key blue carbon ecosystems have been recognised (seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, tidal marshes), however, evidence is emerging that other ecosystems may also be important. Here, we use meta-analysis of 253 research publications to investigating the role of other marine ecosystems in blue carbon. At present, mud / tidal flats, shallow sediments / fjords, some components of coral reef systems (e.g. lagoons) and coralline algal beds should also be considered important for blue carbon burial.

海洋生态系统凭借其大量固存碳的能力（该类碳被称为蓝碳（blue carbon）），在缓解大气CO₂浓度上升方面发挥着关键作用。截至目前，学界已公认三类核心蓝碳生态系统，即海草床、红树林与潮汐盐沼；但越来越多的证据表明，其他海洋生态系统同样可能发挥重要作用。本研究通过对253篇学术文献开展荟萃分析（meta-analysis），探讨了其他海洋生态系统在蓝碳固存中的作用。当前，泥滩/潮滩（mud / tidal flats）、浅海沉积物/峡湾（fjords）、珊瑚礁系统的部分组成单元（如泻湖（lagoons））以及珊瑚藻床（coralline algal beds），同样应被视为具有重要蓝碳埋藏能力的生态系统。