A one-factor ANOVA followed by a Tukey post-hoc was used to test the differences in the above- and below-ground C stocks, and the ecosystem C storage of the fringe, transitional, and interior forests. In addition, ANOVA test was used to assess whether the TOC content significantly decreased with sediment depth. For statistical testing, the sediment layers were grouped into six depth intervals, consisting of 0–15, 15–30, 30–50, 50–100, 100–150, and 150–250 cm. Prior to statistical analysis, the data was examined for normality and homogeneity of the variance using the Shapiro–Wilk's test and Levene's test, respectively.