河流-河口-近海连续体(简称连续体)是连接陆地和大洋的过渡地带，也是目前全球碳收支估算的薄弱环节。这个复杂的海陆交互生态系统不仅可以通过光合作用、溶解作用吸收大气中的CO2，陆地和流域光合作用或化学风化作用固定的碳也可以被横向输送到陆架和大洋中。本文以国际上著名的切萨皮克湾以及长江-长江口-东海等为例，综述了连续体碳循环研究的进展，并指出通过陆海统筹、海空一体、点线面结合的系统观测，结合动力-生态数值模拟、沉积记录开展多时空尺度过程机制分析研究，是阐明气候变化与人类活动双重压力下，河流-河口-近海连续体碳交换的演变规律及其对碳收支的影响的可行途径。

The river-estuary-coastal ocean continuum (referred to as the continuum hereinafter) is a transition zone connecting lands and oceans. The carbon budgets in the continuum are dynamic and uncertain components in global carbon budgets. This complex landocean interactive ecosystem can absorb atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis and dissolution of CO2. Also, the carbon fixed by photosynthesis or chemical weathering in land and watershed can be transported horizontally to the shelf waters and open oceans. In this paper, the progress of carbon cycles in the continuum is reviewed by taking the famous Chesapeake Bay and Changjiang Estuary-East China Sea continuum as typical examples. It is concluded that systematic observation characterized with land-sea coordination, sea-space integration, point-line combination, should be combined with physicalecological numerical simulation to reveal the multiple time-space scale processes. The strategy is generally operable, and the historical retrospective of results is also achievable. Thus, it can be used to clarify the evolution of carbon exchange along the river-estuary-coastal ocean continuum and their influences on carbon budgets under the combined pressures of climate change and anthropogenic activities.