Carbon sequestration in intact rare ecosystems and their encroaching forests (Michigan, USA)

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are impacting global temperatures, ecological systems, and human societies. Natural carbon sequestration through the conservation of soil and native ecosystems may slow or reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and thus slow or mitigate the rate of global warming. Most of the research investigating carbon sequestration in natural systems occurs in forested ecosystems, however rare ecosystems such as coastal plain marshes and wet-mesic sand prairie collectively may serve as significant carbon sinks. Our objectives were to measure and assess the importance of carbon sequestration in three rare ecosystems (oak-pine barrens, coastal plain marsh, and wet-mesic sand prairie) in western Lower Michigan. We measured carbon in standing vegetation, dead organic matter, and soils within each ecosystem and adjacent encroaching forested areas. Driven by tree carbon, total carbon stocks in encroaching areas were greater than in intact rare ecosystems. Soil..., , , # README: Carbon stocks in rare ecosystems

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjtp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjtp)

We have submitted our site environmental data (**C.sites.env_open.xlsx**), carbon stocks (**C.data_open.xlsx**), soil bulk density and percent carbon (**SOC.calc_open.xlsx**), and all files related to spatial modeling (**C_spatialdata_(1).zip**).

Descriptions

**C.sites.env_open**

* Date indicates the date the environmental data were collected. NA indicates the date information was not recorded and is not available
* Community refers to the ecosystem in which the site was located
* Type has two categorical variables, \"Buffer\" which represents encroaching forests, and \"Transect\" which represents intact ecosystem
* Site includes the values 1 and 2, indicative of the two paired locations (intact and encroaching) used to measure carbon
* Sample Code is a combination of the ecosystem type (abbreviations are CPM for coastal plain marsh, OPB for oak-pine barrens, an...