Blue carbon ecosystems (BCE), including mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrasses, provide essential functions and services globally but are increasingly challenged by climate change and other anthropogenic activities. In Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ), there is mounting interest in blue carbon as a nature‐based solution to climate change. Quantifying the monetary co‐benefits of BCE, in addition to carbon sequestration, can h...

Sediment loading from land and turbidity in coastal waters has increased because of human activities in coastal catchments and through climate‐related increases in storm intensity and frequency. Here, we investigated changes in coastal seafloor biodiversity and ecosystem function across a suspended sediment concentration gradient in a New Zealand nearshore receiving environment. Photosynthetically active sunlight radiation rea...

As a consequence of anthropogenic activities and climate change, accelerated terrestrial sediment runoff is causing the gradual mudification of soft sediment estuarine habitats worldwide. Increased sediment mud content (< 63 µm) has been recognised to alter seagrass morphology and cause declines in primary production in unvegetated habitats. However, the effect of increased mud content on primary production in seagrass meadows...

The scale at which New Zealand is currently storing and sequestering blue carbon, and could create additional blue carbon via restoration, has been unclear. Here, we calculate a preliminary estimate for the current extent of three key blue carbon ecosystems (saltmarshes, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows), their carbon stocks and their carbon sequestration rates using the best available data to provide a preliminary estima...

Blue carbon is the carbon sequestered by coastal and marine habitats such as mangroves, saltmarsh, and seagrasses. The carbon sequestration service provided by these habitats could help to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as providing other important ecosystem services. Restoration of coastal habitats for the purpose of sequestering blue carbon can generate carbon credits, potentially...

Estuarine intertidal flats are known for high rates of primary production, however, globally these ecosystems are under threat from rising sea‐level and accelerated inputs of terrestrial sediments. These stressors simultaneously alter the duration of submersion/emersion periods and water‐column turbidity impacting seafloor photoperiods. To assess how changes in submergence time and water‐clarity can affect benthic primary prod...

Estuaries are hotspots of primary productivity and nutrient transformation that contribute to food webs and ecosystem functioning locally and in adjacent ecosystems. The depth‐dependence of nutrient transformation and primary productivity rates in the water column and the seafloor were investigated, and the lateral transport of solutes and materials across the estuary mouth were quantified. Using an estuary dominated by shallo...

Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is grounded in place‐based, multi‐generational knowledge and the connection of that knowledge with the environments from which it is derived. It takes for granted that all elements of the natural world are related, and it is upon those relationships that survival depends. A Māori worldview advocates for the responsibility of each generation to pass onto their descendants at least as good a su...

Sea level rise (SLR) has been described as one of the greatest potential causes of ecosystem disruption, putting many coastal areas at risk of irreversible changes. However, the loss of intertidal areas from SLR and the associated ecological and social repercussions receive little attention. Within estuaries, extensive intertidal areas harbour a variety of habitats and communities and represent hotspots of ecosystem functions....

To support ongoing marine spatial planning in New Zealand, a numerical environmental classification using Gradient Forest models was developed using a broad suite of biotic and high-resolution environmental predictor variables. Gradient Forest modeling uses species distribution data to control the selection, weighting and transformation of environmental predictors to maximise their correlation with species compositional turnov...

Ecologists have long acknowledged the importance of context dependency related to position along spatial gradients. It is also acknowledged that broad‐scale climate patterns can directly and indirectly alter population dynamics. What is not often addressed is whether climate patterns such as the Southern Oscillation interact with population‐level temporal patterns and affect the ability of time‐series data, such as long‐term s...