DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5k0g4
title: Data from: Coastal landforms and accumulation of mangrove peat increase carbon sequestration and storage

description: Given their relatively small area, mangroves and their organic sediments
 are of disproportionate importance to global carbon sequestration and
 carbon storage. Peat deposition and preservation allows some mangroves to
 accrete vertically and keep pace with sea-level rise by growing on their
 own root remains. In this study we show that mangroves in desert inlets in
 the coasts of the Baja California have been accumulating root peat for
 nearly 2,000 y and harbor a belowground carbon content of 900–34,00 Mg
 C/ha, with an average value of 1,130 (± 128) Mg C/ha, and a belowground
 carbon accumulation similar to that found under some of the tallest
 tropical mangroves in the Mexican Pacific coast. The depth–age curve for
 the mangrove sediments of Baja California indicates that sea level in the
 peninsula has been rising at a mean rate of 0.70 mm/y (± 0.07) during the
 last 17 centuries, a value similar to the rates of sea-level rise
 estimated for the Caribbean during a comparable period. By accreting on
 their own accumulated peat, these desert mangroves store large amounts of
 carbon in their sediments. We estimate that mangroves and halophyte scrubs
 in Mexico’s arid northwest, with less than 1% of the terrestrial area,
 store in their belowground sediments around 28% of the total belowground
 carbon pool of the whole region.
description: Carbon content in
 mangrove sediments in four coastal lagoons of the Mexican
 PacificThis database contains
 the carbon contents found in sediments below mangrove forests in four
 coastal lagoons of the Mexican Pacific coast: (1) Bahía Magdalena, Pacific
 coast of Baja California Sur, (2) Balandra, Gulf of California coast of
 Baja California Sur, (3) Marismas Nacionales, State of Nayarit, and (4) La
 Encrucijada, State of Chiapas. Samples were collected by Paula Ezcurra,
 Exequiel Ezcurra, and Pedro P. Garcillán. Samples and data form part of
 Paula Ezcurra's Honors Program project at the University of
 California Santa Barbara. The datafile in other formats (csv, pdf) can be
 downloaded from the following URL:
 http://ezcurralab.ucr.edu/c-sequestration/mangroves.htmlpacific_mangroves_dataset-carbon_content.xlsxRadiocarbon age of peat in mangrove sediments from the Mexican PacificThis database contains the carbon contents found in sediments below mangrove forests in four coastal lagoons of the Mexican Pacific coast: (1) Bahía Magdalena, Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, (2) Balandra, Gulf of California coast of Baja California Sur, (3) Marismas Nacionales, State of Nayarit, and (4) La Encrucijada, State of Chiapas. Samples were collected by Paula Ezcurra, Exequiel Ezcurra, and Pedro P. Garcillán. Samples and data form part of Paula Ezcurra's Honors Program project at the University of California Santa Barbara. The datafile in other formats (csv, pdf) can be downloaded from the following URL: http://ezcurralab.ucr.edu/c-sequestration/mangroves.htmlpacific_mangroves_dataset-age_vs_depth.xlsxCarbon content in mangrove sediments in five Gulf of California sitesThis database contains the carbon contents found in sediments below mangrove forests in five coastal coastal sites of the Gulf of California, around the Bay of La Paz and neighboring islands. Samples were collected by Matt Costa with field assistance of Paula Ezcurra. Both samples and data form part of Matt Costa's PhD project at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. The datafile in other formats (csv, pdf) can be downloaded from the following URL: http://ezcurralab.ucr.edu/c-sequestration/mangroves.html.bcs_mangroves_dataset-carbon_content.xlsx