Coastal Carbon Data Library and Atlas

One of the core activities of the Coastal Carbon Network (CCN) is to facilitate the stewardship of carbon data collected from tidal wetland habitats around the world. We do this by providing publishing services to the research community and maintaining a synthetic archive of open-source data, called the Coastal Carbon Data Library. This public resource is curated and maintained by CCN personnel, and continues to grow through contribution from the research community. Presently, the CCN Data Library contains nearly 15,000 soil profiles from 70 countries across 62 years, and includes representation of Blue Carbon habitats such as marsh, mangrove, seagrass, and tidal freshwater wetlands.

The database is designed to both accommodate and standardize carbon data across the wide array of studies that have been or will be conducted across various tidal wetland habitats. The CCN strives for transparency with methods of data archival, quality control, and management. Read more about the database structure on our Community Resources Portal.

Coastal Carbon Atlas

This novel Blue Carbon tool enables users to explore, query, and download data from the Coastal Carbon Data Library.

CCN-assembled Data Publications

CCN-affiliated Publications

Malhotra, A., Todd-Brown, K., Nave, L. E., Batjes, N. H., Holmquist, J. R., Hoyt, A. M., ... & Vindušková, O. (2019). The landscape of soil carbon data: emerging questions, synergies and databases. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 43(5), 707-719.

Rogers, K., Kelleway, J. J., Saintilan, N., Megonigal, J. P., Adams, J. B., Holmquist, J. R., ... & Woodroffe, C. D. (2019). Wetland carbon storage controlled by millennial-scale variation in relative sea-level rise.

Holmquist, J. R., Windham-Myers, L., Bernal, B., Byrd, K. B., Crooks, S., Gonneea, M. E., ... & Megonigal, J. P. (2018). Uncertainty in United States coastal wetland greenhouse gas inventorying. Environmental Research Letters, 13(11), 115005.

Holmquist, J. R., Windham-Myers, L., Bliss, N., Crooks, S., Morris, J. T., Megonigal, J. P., ... & Ferner, M. C. (2018). Accuracy and precision of tidal wetland soil carbon mapping in the conterminous United States. Scientific reports, 8(1), 9478.

Testimonials to Data Contribution

“The Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network dataset has been invaluable in our recent research identifying global drivers of variability in coastal wetland carbon cycling. The Network’s dataset greatly complemented our own previous data collation efforts, filling important gaps in our record. The availability of a comprehensive and well-curated dataset allowed us to focus on the analysis and interpretation of data, deriving important new insights in global patterns of carbon storage.”

- Jeffrey Kelleway, Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University

"The CCRCN database is a key cornerstone in accelerating the pace of discovery for coastal carbon cycling.  I recently downloaded version 1, and have begun analylzing it and intercomparing its features with other national and global sets on soil core characteristics. As it focuses only on soilcores from tidal wetland, it is the single largest and spatially explicit empirical dataset, globally, for populating carbon stock assessments or testing models across space and time. For coastal lands, it is an invaulable asset for scientists and managers alike.  The developers of the dataset and platform should be commended, as should the many community contributors who are fueling advances in science and practice by sharing their data."

"[The CCRCN administrators] are doing an amazing job at this organization and promoting inclusivity. I am floored by your intuition and abilities. You are the natural heirs to this community-building."

- Lisamarie Windham-Myers, U.S. Geological Survey

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