Roots of coastal plants stabilize carbon fixed by marine algae
Coastal vegetated ecosystems are key-nature based solutions for climate change mitigation. Mangroves, seagrass meadows and saltmarshes contribute to carbon sequestration not only through their photosynthetic activity but also by anchoring sediments with their extensive root systems. By modulating flow coastal vegetation creates a low energy environment for sediment that includes carbon to accumulate. These roots physically stabilize the sediment, prevent erosion and enhance long-term retention of organic carbon. Hence, we hypothesized marine, algae derived organic matter may especially accumulate in plant vegetated ecosystems. We used algal and plant glycans as carbon sequestration proxy to trace the input and stabilization from source to sink and found those molecules in 93 sediment cores across different coastal vegetated ecosystems from temperate to tropical regions. Specific monoclonal antibodies showed algal-derived fucoidans were present in sediments of coastal vegetated ecosystems. Our findings suggest that the restoration of plant ecosystems that fix carbon dioxide, protect coasts and enhance biodiversity should also be enumerated for the stored carbon from distant donors. Conclusively, carbon sequestration is a synergistic outcome of photosynthetic contributors acting in concert across different ecosystems.