title: High fragility of the soil organic C pools in mangrove forests.
abstract: Mangrove forests play an important role in biogeochemical cycle of C, storing large amounts of organic carbon. However, these functions can be controlled by the high spatial heterogeneity of these intertidal environments. In this study were performed an intensive sampling characterizing mangrove soils under different type of vegetation (Rhizophora/Avicennia/dead mangrove) in the Venezuelan coast. The soils were anoxic, with a pH~7; however other soil parameters varied widely (e.g., clay, organic carbon). Dead mangrove area showed a significant lower amounts of total organic carbon (TOC) (6.8±2.2%), in comparison to the well-preserved mangrove of Avicennia or Rhizophora (TOC=17-20%). Our results indicate that 56% of the TOC was lost within a period of 10years and we estimate that 11,219kgm-2of CO2was emitted as a result of the mangrove death. These results represent an average emission rate of 11.2±19.17tCO2ha-1y-1.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain. Electronic address: xl.otero@usc.es.
authors.forename: X L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Otero
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Méndez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Universidade de São Paulo, 13418-900 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Nóbrega
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Universidade de São Paulo, 13418-900 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: T O
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Santiso-Taboada
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meléndez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Macías
mesh_terms: D032407:Avicennia; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D065928:Forests; D043982:Rhizophoraceae; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Blue carbon; Dead mangrove; ENSO; Soil organic C pools