Unearthing blue carbon core microbiomes: sediment microbial communities in coastal vegetated ecosystems

Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), including seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, andmangrove forests, are responsible for storing disproportionately more carbon perhectare than their terrestrial counterparts making them valuable ecosystems and keyelements in global carbon stocks. The role of microbial communities in these BCEsin the accumulation and preservation of organic carbon (Corg) is poorly understood.In this study, sediment from the three BCEs at the Nahoon Estuary, a WarmTemperate South African estuary, were collected to characterise the microbialcommunity. Sediment microbiome was taxonomically characterised usingsequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to identify a core blue carbon sedimentmicrobiome and investigate associations with Corg storage rates