Carbon accumulation rates in soils of European saltmarshes and seagrasses

The dataset represents a literature compilation of carbon accumulation rates (CAR) and associated information for soils of European saltmarshes and seagrasses. These blue carbon data are used a basis for European-scale evaluation of carbon accumulation rates of saltmarshes and seagrass meadows. The compilation includes a total of 363 records of saltmarsh and seagrass CAR. Of those, the following fulfilled the criteria for European-scale comparison: 265 and 88 observations of saltmarsh-, and seagrass CAR, respectively, across the NE Atlantic Ocean (197 and 26 obs.), the Mediterranean Sea (36 and 55 obs.) and the Baltic Sea (32 and 7 obs.), with seagrass CAR representing the three native genera, i.e. Posidonia (43 obs. of P. oceanica endemic to the Mediterranean Sea), Cymodocea (12 obs.) and Zostera (32 obs.) as well as the introduced Halophila (1 obs.).