Seagrass meadows are productive ecosystems that contribute to climate change mitigation by accumulating ‘Blue Carbon’ in their plant biomass and sediments. However, there is wide variation in reported sediment carbon stocks (C stocks ) across different global regions and between meadows composed of different seagrass species. Therefore, understanding the drivers for sediment C stocks variation is crucial to developing effective conservation and restoration projects for seagrass ecosystems. This study analyses the influence of environmental factors on the variation in sediment C stocks for six intertidal seagrass meadows within the Solent region, in southern England. There were significant differences between sites for all variables, except leaf density, and concentrations of the sediment pore water nutrients. Sediment dry bulk density, mean grain size, sorting coefficient, % mud, elevation above sea level, and pore water salinity showed high levels of association with C stocks when assessed individually. Multivariate analyses showed that sediment dry bulk density, sorting coefficient, % mud, and pore water pH and concentration of nutrients greatly influenced C stock . Moreover, sediment characteristics acted in conjunction to explain most of the variation in C stock among sites. Therefore, sediment characteristics should be considered as important indicators for carbon storage potential in intertidal temperate seagrass meadows.

中文翻译：

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温带海草草地沉积物碳储存的环境驱动因素

海草草甸是多产的生态系统，通过在植物生物量和沉积物中积累“蓝碳”，有助于缓解气候变化。然而，报告的沉积物碳库（C库）在全球不同区域和由不同海草物种组成的草甸之间存在很大差异。因此，了解沉积物碳库变化的驱动因素对于开发有效的海草生态系统保护和恢复项目至关重要。本研究分析了环境因素对英格兰南部索伦特地区六个潮间带海草草地沉积物碳储量变化的影响。除了叶片密度和沉积物孔隙水养分浓度外，所有变量的地点之间都存在显着差异。沉积物干容重，当单独评估时，平均粒度、分选系数、泥浆百分比、海拔高度和孔隙水盐度显示出与碳库的高度关联。多变量分析表明，沉积物干容重、分选系数、泥浆百分比、孔隙水 pH 值和养分浓度对 C 库影响很大。此外，沉积物特征共同解释了站点间碳库的大部分变化。因此，沉积物特征应被视为潮间带温带海草草甸碳储存潜力的重要指标。孔隙水 pH 值和养分浓度对 C 库影响很大。此外，沉积物特征共同解释了站点间碳库的大部分变化。因此，沉积物特征应被视为潮间带温带海草草甸碳储存潜力的重要指标。孔隙水 pH 值和养分浓度对 C 库影响很大。此外，沉积物特征共同解释了站点间碳库的大部分变化。因此，沉积物特征应被视为潮间带温带海草草甸碳储存潜力的重要指标。