title: Carbon stocks and potential carbon storage in the mangrove forests of China.
abstract: Mangrove forests provide important ecosystem services, and play important roles in terrestrial and oceanic carbon (C) cycling. Although the C stocks or storage in terrestrial ecosystems in China have been frequently assessed, the C stocks in mangrove forests have often been overlooked. In this study, we estimated the C stocks and the potential C stocks in China's mangrove forests by combining our own field data with data from the National Mangrove Resource Inventory Report and from other published literature. The results indicate that mangrove forests in China store about 6.91 ± 0.57 Tg C, of which 81.74% is in the top 1 m soil, 18.12% in the biomass of mangrove trees, and 0.08% in the ground layer (i.e. mangrove litter and seedlings). The potential C stocks are as high as 28.81 ± 4.16 Tg C. On average, mangrove forests in China contain 355.25 ± 82.19 Mg C ha(-1), which is consistent with the global average of mangrove C density at similar latitudes, but higher than the average C density in terrestrial forests in China. Our results suggest that C storage in mangroves can be increased by selecting high C-density species for afforestation and stand improvement, and even more by increasing the mangrove area. The information gained in this study will facilitate policy decisions concerning the restoration of mangrove forests in China.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Hongxiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China. Electronic address: renhai@scbg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN 37209, USA.
authors.forename: Dafeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Wenqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China.
authors.forename: Baowen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: The Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China.
authors.forename: Qingxian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002681:China; D043982:Rhizophoraceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon
keywords: Carbon stock; Coastal carbon; Mangrove; Potential carbon storage; Soil organic carbon; Wetland