Source data for living-carbon recovery and depth-resolved sediment carbon storage following <i>Zostera marina</i> restoration in Caofeidian, China

The Excel workbook includes: (i) seagrass shoot density, canopy height and percentage cover; (ii) above- and belowground biomass and carbon concentrations; (iii) depth-resolved sediment organic-carbon concentrations and dry bulk densities from the restored meadow, an adjacent bare flat and pooled natural-reference meadows; (iv) standardized 0–100 cm sediment organic-carbon records, including identification of measured and extrapolated values and documentation of the method used to standardize the 50–100 cm interval; (v) depth-harmonized descriptive statistics, Welch’s tests and Holm-adjusted <i>P</i> values; and (vi) activities of ^210Pb, ^226Ra and ^137Cs measured in the independent chronology cores CAR_R01 and CAR_R02.</p><p dir="ltr">The field data were collected in 2021 and 2024.

Sample identifiers, sampling dates, measurement units, value types and calculation or source information are provided in the workbook. The dataset supports the figures, tables and statistical analyses reported in the associated manuscript. No personal, confidential or sensitive data are included.</p>