The dataset comprises of physical and biogeochemical measurements of belowground (root) biomass from across four Scottish saltmarshes. Sites were chosen to represent contrasting habitats types in Scotland, in particular sediment types, vegetation and sea level history. The data provide a quantitative measure of belowground (root) biomass, organic carbon content and belowground (root) carbon. Samples were collected using a wide gauge gouge corer. The samples were processed to determine belowground (root) biomass, the organic carbon was quantified through elemental analysis and these two data sets were combined to calculate the belowground (root) carbon content. The data were collected to help create a detailed picture of saltmarsh carbon storage in surficial soils across Scotland. The work was carried out under the NERC programme - Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environment (C-SIDE), NERC grant reference NE/R010846/1 Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/032627e0-5780-4601-b9b3-e684403cee70

The dataset comprises of biogeochemical measurements of saltmarsh soil collected from 46 salt marshes across Scotland. Sites were chosen to represent contrasting habitats across Scotland, in particular sediment types, vegetation and sea level history. The data provide a quantitative measure of the dry bulk density, soil texture, organic matter content (LOI) and organic carbon present within surface soils (up to a depth of 10 cm). A total of 471 samples were collected, 157 of the samples were collected using modified syringe samplers as part of the citizen scientist programme CarbonQuest (Part of C-SIDE) these were supplemented by a further 109 samples from the C-SIDE team. The remaining 205 samples were collected using a soil corer (Gouge) as part of the C-SIDE sampling programme. The samples were processed for bulk density, soil texture, organic matter content using the Loss on Ignition (LOI) method and the organic carbon was quantified through elemental analysis. The data were collected to help create a detailed picture of saltmarsh carbon storage across Scotland. The work was carried out under the NERC programme - Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environment (C-SIDE), NERC grant reference NE/R010846/1 Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/81a1301f-e5e2-44f9-afe0-0ea5bb08010f

These data were collected from surface sediments (0-5 cm) at sites located along the Athens Riviera and Salamina coastline, Greece. The sediments came from both oil-contaminated (via Agia Zoni II oil-spill) and uncontaminated sites and were first collected between September 2017 and April 2018. For sediments taken at each site, data includes hydrocarbon concentrations (alkanes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)), absolute microbial abundance (by Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR)) of Bacteria, Archaea, and Fungi, and 16S rRNA amplicon libraries of Bacteria and Archaea. Additionally, nutrient concentrations (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, silicate, and phosphate) were measured from seawater samples taken at the same sites. This study was conducted by the University of Essex, in partnerships with Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation and Cranfield University, and funded by the National Environmental Research Council and EnvEast DTP. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/acf464dc-be75-41b8-9688-f2ba4037ef53