Overall summary of carbon sequestration rates and stores from Burrows et al. (2014, 2017), Smeaton et al. (2016, 2017) and Smeaton et al. (2019). Store times are estimated using the ratio of store size to sequestration rate, and indicates the length of time that is needed to sequester the indicated store at the indicated sequestration rate.

Column descriptions

Ecosystem component - Ecosystem component
Description of carbon store - Description of carbon store
Rate - Annual carbon sequestration rate (megatonnes of CO2 equivalent)
Size - Size of carbon store (megatonnes of CO2 equivalent)
Store time - Store time (years)

Data sources

Burrows, M. T., et al., 2014. Assessment of carbon budgets and potential blue carbon stores in Scotland’s coastal and marine environment. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 761.
Burrows, M. T., et al., 2017. Assessment of Blue Carbon Resources in Scotland’s Inshore Marine Protected Area Network. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 957.
Smeaton, C., et al., 2017. Scotland's forgotten carbon: A national assessment of mid-latitude fjord sedimentary carbon stocks. Biogeosciences 14: 5663-5674.
Smeaton C., et al., 2019). Re-evaluating Scotland’s sedimentary carbon stocks. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science, Vol 11, No. 2, 16pp. DOI: 10.7489/12267-1