Climate change and other anthropogenic drivers, including eutrophication, land-use changes and overexploitation, directly and indirectly threaten blue carbon ecosystems . Commonly considered blue carbon ecosystems include vegetated coastal ecosystems , whose mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass beds host rooted, vascular plants known to store large amounts of carbon for long periods and to be amenable to management . Other ocean and coastal taxa, including rooted or floating macroalgae , phytoplankton and even pelagic fauna , have also been proposed as blue carbon ecosystems. Terrestrial vascular-plant-derived material can also carry and store significant amounts of carbon in marine environments . There is increasing evidence about the coverage and carbon content of macroalgal, planktonic and faunal taxa, but low agreement about their long-term carbon-storage potential and manageability . This section focuses on the array of ecosystem services and adaptation opportunities provided by vegetated coastal blue carbon ecosystems, where consensus and evidence are most abundant. Mitigation potential of blue carbon ecosystems is assessed with land-based mitigation options in WGIII AR6 Section 7.4.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report