The dataset details surface elevation and sedimentation measurements across five UK saltmarsh sites. Two of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area. Rod Sedimentation-Erosion Tables (rSETs) were installed at different distances from the vegetated margin. Three rSETs were deployed for each Essex site and four for the Morecambe sites. rSET benchmarks were installed with associated marker horizons to evaluate surface elevation changes and surface accretion respectively. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/b71f1244-3bc2-4b52-bf64-f3e479860e28

The dataset comprises the surface stability of sediments as determined by a Cohesive Strength Meter (CSM). Between 3 and 5 replicate measurements were taken from each of the 22 designated experiment quadrats at each of the Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) sites. At each CBESS site, a salt marsh site and a mud flat site was examined and three locations were selected in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three locations in Essex, South East England. The Morecambe Bay samples were taken during the winter and summer of 2013. The Essex samples were taken during the winter, early spring and summer of 2013. This data were collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/64d64b2c-5f80-4dd5-b778-41c048f96caf

Nutrient exchange fluxes in the dark and light, calculated in moles per hour per square metre, between sediment cores and overlying site water in salt marsh and intertidal mudflat locations in Essex and Morecombe Bay, Lancashire in January and August 2013. Net fluxes of nitrate, nitrate, ammonium, oxygen and dissolved organic carbon were measured in temperature controlled water baths over three hour periods. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/740348c5-796b-4a28-bc7f-b0eaf1ee3452

The dataset details surface sediment chlorophyll concentrations across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Chlorophyll concentrations in surface sediments (<2mm) provide a quantitative measure of the microphytobenthos (MPB) community present. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, twenty two sampling quadrats were placed on each area. Five replicate sediment samples were taken at each quadrat and then underwent acetone extraction of pigments followed by spectrophotometer analysis of absorptions at relevant wavelengths. Values for chlorophyll a, b and c1+ c2 are expressed as micrograms per gram of sediment. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/55bc4927-5d9b-4e64-b30e-f4f97c84b87c

The dataset details greenhouse gas fluxes as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, twenty two sampling quadrats were placed on each area. Light and dark incubations were performed using a benthic chamber on seven of the twenty two quadrats of each site. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/186fdb05-cc14-4315-be30-fec28048b310

The dataset details individual species bioturbation potential (BPi) across 6 intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. The data provide an index of bioturbation potential of individual invertebrate species present within the top 10cm of sediment. Three sites were located in Essex, South East England and the other three in Morecambe Bay, North West England. Each site consisted of a saltmarsh habitat and adjacent mudflat habitat. 22 sampling quadrats were placed in each habitat covering four spatial scales. three replicate cores of sediment were collected at each quadrat. They were sieved on a 0.5mm mesh and the macrofauna was removed, identified to species (or appropriate taxon) and individuals were identified to species (or most appropriate taxon), counted and weighed. The resulting abundance and biomass data were then used to calculate BPi of each individual species present within a sample. BPi data for mudflat habitats across Essex and Morecambe are complete, however, saltmarsh data is only available for one full Essex site (Tillingham Marsh), in one season (winter) and across all sites, at the 1m scale. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS). The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/897d03de-f88c-46b8-a2ab-e6899d39f4f8

The dataset details surface sediment colloidal carbohydrate concentrations across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Colloidal carbohydrate concentrations in surface sediments (top 2mm) provide a quantitative measure of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secreted by organisms that form the microphytobenthos (MPB) community. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, twenty two sampling quadrats were placed on each area. Five replicate sediment samples were taken at each quadrat and were analysed using the Dubois Phenol-Sulphuric Assay which involves spectrophotometer analysis of absorptions to determine colloidal carbohydrate concentrations. Values for colloidal carbohydrate concentrations are expressed as glucose equivalents in micrograms per gram of sediment. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/6c027bf9-b344-4178-b8b3-d78cf39f017f

The eddy covariance data describes the fluxes of CO2, latent energy, and sensible heat. It also includes ancillary data: air and soil temperatures, net radiation balance, down-welling photosynthetically active radiation, wind speed, wind direction, vapour pressure deficit, friction velocity, Monin-Obukhov stability and modelled respiration. Data collection was carried out at Abbotts Hall marsh from the 15 December 2012 till the 27 January 2015. The Abbotts Hall site is in Essex, South East England, and the meteorological tower was situated in the middle of the marsh. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/8cfd9a2a-8b68-40c6-94a1-be8e02e869c1

The dataset details global positioning system (GPS) locations recorded for instruments and locations of interest associated with equipment installed for the monitoring of wave energy, surface elevation changes and sedimentation at five UK saltmarsh sites. Two of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a salt marsh area and adjacent mudflat area. Rod Sedimentation-Erosion Tables (rSETs) were installed at different distances from the vegetated margin. Three rSETs were deployed for each Essex site and four for the Morecambe sites. rSET benchmarks were installed with associated marker horizons to evaluate surface elevation changes and surface accretion respectively. Shore-normal transects of pressure transducers (PTs) were installed to monitor wave energy transformation across the marsh and mudflat surfaces. The locations and elevations of the equipment is necessary to make use of the associated datasets "Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) wave monitoring over saltmarsh and mudflat habitats" and "Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) sedimentation and erosion monitoring over saltmarsh and mudflat habitats". This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/adf702a1-d154-45b5-9c31-4f6acf5836f1

The dataset details derived wave parameters from bottom-mounted pressure monitoring installations across five UK salt marshes. Two of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area. The sensors were deployed in transects oriented approximately shore-normal and straddling the vegetated-unvegetated margin. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f4db9cda-c25e-4ce8-b236-31e8bf44fcde