Shifting Shores: Carbon Storage and Habitat Resilience in a Major Scottish Saltmarsh

Shifting Shores: Carbon Storage and Habitat Resilience in a Major Scottish Saltmarsh | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Shifting Shores: Carbon Storage and Habitat Resilience in a Major Scottish Saltmarsh Michael Edward Deary This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6854949/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Estuaries and Coasts → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Saltmarshes are dynamic but vulnerable coastal ecosystems that play an important role in blue carbon sequestration, nature conservation, and flood defence. Shifting river channels, rising sea levels and increased storm frequency threaten these habitats, potentially disrupting the delicate balance of accretion and erosion. However, this study of Caerlaverock merse, Scotland’s largest saltmarsh, reveals a habitat that adapts to environmental change through vertical and horizontal accretion, and new terrace formation. An analysis of 293 cores shows an organic carbon (OC) stock of 43.6 ± 6.6 kt in the top 30 cm of saltmarsh sediment, with OC density increasing from pioneer through to upper merse. High-resolution aerial photography shows net areal accretion of merse over the period 2015–2021 highlighting the saltmarsh’s resilience in maintaining blue carbon stocks and critical ecosystem services. Nevertheless, because higher OC-content middle merse is being eroded and replaced with accreted pioneer merse, there is a net OC loss in the short term, though with longer term succession to lower and middle merse, this deficit will be reversed. These findings provide valuable insights for conservation and management strategies in response to changing climatic conditions. Saltmarsh dynamics blue carbon sequestration coastal resilience organic carbon storage accretion and erosion climate change adaptation Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Estuaries and Coasts → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 10 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6854949","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":477038421,"identity":"47229aa4-df7b-47e8-bd7c-19e13a28b52c","order_by":0,"name":"Michael Edward Deary","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2370-1243","institution":"Northumbria University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"Edward","lastName":"Deary","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-09 13:36:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6854949/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6854949/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-025-01632-y","type":"published","date":"2025-12-01T15:58:24+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":97723960,"identity":"75bdbe16-3c74-4a5d-9135-a14c50f73158","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 16:10:14","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2868502,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EstCoastwithESI.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6854949/v1_covered_a480faf1-41e0-4ac4-b8fe-e17c6bbc3d9f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Shifting Shores: Carbon Storage and Habitat Resilience in a Major Scottish Saltmarsh","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"estuaries-and-coasts","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"esco","sideBox":"Learn more about [Estuaries and Coasts](https://www.springer.com/journal/12237)","snPcode":"12237","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/esco/","title":"Estuaries and Coasts","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Saltmarsh dynamics, blue carbon sequestration, coastal resilience, organic carbon storage, accretion and erosion, climate change adaptation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6854949/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6854949/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Saltmarshes are dynamic but vulnerable coastal ecosystems that play an important role in blue carbon sequestration, nature conservation, and flood defence. 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