CAS scientists build first model to map global salt marsh carbon
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- Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics developed SAL-GPP, the first process-based model built specifically for salt marsh ecosystems, incorporating tidal and salinity stress modules to simulate photosynthesis in both C3 and C4 plants.
- Prof. Li Tingting, corresponding author, said prior global carbon assessments have 'largely missed coastal wetland contributions due to model limitations,' with lead author Zhou Zhuoya and collaborators from Nanjing University and Tsinghua University also on the team.
- The model was validated against multiple flux tower sites worldwide, achieving a coefficient of determination of R² = 0.82 for daily productivity simulations.
- Using SAL-GPP, the team produced the world's first 500-meter-resolution global salt marsh productivity dataset covering 2011–2020, finding average annual gross primary production of 66.89 ± 11.68 Tg C yr⁻¹.
- Hotspots in the southeastern United States, Western Europe, China's southeastern coast, and Australia collectively account for roughly 64% of the global salt marsh carbon total.
- The dataset outperformed mainstream remote sensing products — MODIS, GLASS, and GOSIF — as well as 17 TRENDY model simulations, according to the study published in Environmental Science & Technology.
- The work provides 'crucial scientific support for incorporating coastal wetlands into global carbon budgets,' the authors wrote, addressing a long-standing gap in blue carbon accounting.
Why it matters: Salt marshes are among the planet's most carbon-dense ecosystems per unit area, yet they've been a blind spot in global carbon budgets because no model could accurately simulate them. With SAL-GPP outperforming every existing remote sensing product and 17 TRENDY models, the 64% concentration in four well-mapped coastal regions gives climate negotiators and conservation planners a defensible baseline for blue carbon credits and coastal wetland protection.
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