Understanding the origin of carbon contained within intertidal sediments is important when considering the role of marine habitats for storing ‘blue carbon’. Saltmarsh and seagrass are widely studied as blue carbon habitats but our understanding of the role of intertidal sediments within the carbon cycle remains poorly understood.
This project piloted a novel approach of using DNA metabarcoding for carbon origin analysis. Two bespoke reference libraries were created for the rbcL gene (macrophytes) and 18S rRNA gene (molluscs). The macrophyte dataset was dominated by diatoms and the 18S dataset was dominated by nematodes and arthropods.
Despite low DNA yields, the study demonstrates the potential of the novel approach for understanding the origin of organic carbon within intertidal sediments. Further optimisation of the methods, and testing with samples with a greater organic carbon content, could help to further validate this novel approach.