Table 1.

Mean generation rates of particulate and dissolved organic matter (POM and DOM), burial and respiration rates in hard and soft substrate coastal habitats

Habitat	POM/DOM generation rate (g C m−2 day−1)		Burial rate (g C m−2 day−1)	Respiration rate(g C m−2 day−1)
	POM	DOM
Seaweed	0.8a	0.4b		5.8c
Mangroves	0.5a	0.3d	0.4e	5.1c
Salt marshes	0.2f	0.3f	0.6e	5.5c
Coral reefs	0.1g	0.4g		4.3c
Sea grasses	0.3a	0.1b	0.4e	1.9c
Sediments	0.2b	0.03f	0.001h	0.03c , i

Most hard substrate habitats such as seaweed and coral reefs do not bury carbon as the hard substratum makes burial impossible (Duarte et al., 2013).

^aCebrian (2002).

^bBarrón et al. (2012).

^cMiddelburg, Duarte, and Gattuso (2005).

^dMaher et al. (2013).

^eDuarte et al. (2013).

^fMaher and Eyre (2010).

^gNakajima et al. (2010).

^hOakes and Eyre (2014). Estimated from ¹³C‐bicarbonate incorporation into sediments.

ⁱUsing the exponential relationship between sediment respiration versus depth (Middelburg et al., 2005); Respiration = 32e^−0.0077z, where z is water depth (m), we are including shallow coastal habitats down to 20 m water depth.