Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Ecosystems

A special issue of Sci (ISSN 2413-4155).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2020) | Viewed by 27636

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Guest Editor
Tropical Coastal & Mangrove Consultants, Pakenham, VIC 3810, Australia
Interests: mangrove ecology; coastal biogeochemistry; energetics of tropical coastal ecosystems; marine environmental change; coastal ecology and biogeochemistry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Situated at the land–sea interface, mangrove ecosystems are well-suited to be sentinels for climate change. Mangrove environments are physically, geologically and ecologically dynamic and it is primarily these forces, within the confines of changing environmental and climatic conditions, that sculpt mangrove ecosystems over time. Human impacts on mangroves, including climate change, have received much attention of late especially because mangrove deforestation is occurring at a rapid rate. Despite high rates of destruction and degradation, mangroves still play key roles in ameliorating coastal erosion, fostering coastal stability and assisting in human sustainability.

This Special Issue invites original research papers and critical reviews and assessments including, but not limited to, the following topics under the broad umbrella of mangroves and climate change:

  • sea-level rise;
  • temperature rise;
  • coastal acidification;
  • historical evidence;
  • predictive models of mangrove response;
  • responses to rising atmospheric CO2;
  • changes in precipitation;
  • regional case studies;
  • mangrove resilience/susceptibility to disturbance;
  • land-use change;
  • increased frequency and intensity of storms;
  • effects of deforestation/construction of impoundments;
  • natural versus anthropogenic changes in forest structure;
  • biodiversity changes;
  • changes in ecosystem function; and
  • rehabilitation and sustainable management.

Prof. Daniel M. Alongi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • mangroves
  • climate change
  • sea-level rise
  • temperature
  • weather patterns
  • coastal acidification
  • predictive modelling
  • global change
  • greenhouse gases
  • atmospheric CO2
  • precipitation
  • resilience
  • disturbances
  • deforestation
  • biodiversity
  • ecosystem function
  • rehabilitation
  • sustainable management.

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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20 pages, 4033 KiB  
Article
Process Controls of the Live Root Zone and Carbon Sequestration Capacity of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh
by Edwin J. Bomer, Carol A. Wilson and Tracy Elsey-Quirk
Sci 2020, 2(3), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/sci2030054 - 15 Jul 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4702
Abstract
The conservation of coastal wetland ecosystems, like mangrove forests and salt marshes, represents a critical strategy for mitigating atmospheric emissions and climate change in the 21st century. Yet the existence of these environments is threatened by human-induced disturbances, namely deforestation and accelerated sea-level [...] Read more.
The conservation of coastal wetland ecosystems, like mangrove forests and salt marshes, represents a critical strategy for mitigating atmospheric emissions and climate change in the 21st century. Yet the existence of these environments is threatened by human-induced disturbances, namely deforestation and accelerated sea-level rise. Coastal systems maintain surface elevation in response to sea-level rise through a combination of physical and biological processes both above and below the ground surface. The quantification and relative contribution of belowground process controls (e.g., seasonal water content, organic matter decomposition) on surface elevation change is largely unexplored but crucial for informing coastal ecosystem sustainability. To address this knowledge deficit, we integrated measurements of surface elevation change of the live root zone (0.5 to 1 m depth) with geotechnical data from co-located sediment cores in the Sundarbans mangrove forest (SMF) of southwest Bangladesh. Core data reveal that the primary belowground controls on surface elevation change include seasonal fluctuations in pore-water content and the relative abundance of fine-grained sediments capable of volumetric expansion and contraction, supporting an elevation gain of ~2.42 ± 0.26 cm year−1. In contrast to many mangrove environments, the soils of the SMF contain little organic matter and are dominantly composed (>90%) of inorganic clastic sediments. The mineral-rich soil texture likely leads to less compaction-induced subsidence as compared to organic-rich substrates and facilitates surface equilibrium in response to sea level rise. Despite a relatively high soil bulk density, soil carbon (C) density of the SMF is very low owing to the dearth of preserved organic content. However, rates of C accumulation are balanced out by locally high accretion rates, rendering the SMF a greater sink of terrestrial C than the worldwide mangrove average. The findings of this study demonstrate that C accumulation in the SMF, and possibly other alluvial mangrove forests, is highly dependent on the continued delivery of sediment to the mangrove platform and associated settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Ecosystems)
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15 pages, 552 KiB  
Perspective
Global Significance of Mangrove Blue Carbon in Climate Change Mitigation
by Daniel M. Alongi
Sci 2020, 2(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/sci2030067 - 21 Aug 2020
Cited by 133 | Viewed by 16700
Abstract
Mangrove forests store and sequester large area-specific quantities of blue carbon (Corg). Except for tundra and peatlands, mangroves store more Corg per unit area than any other ecosystem. Mean mangrove Corg stock is 738.9 Mg Corg ha−1 [...] Read more.
Mangrove forests store and sequester large area-specific quantities of blue carbon (Corg). Except for tundra and peatlands, mangroves store more Corg per unit area than any other ecosystem. Mean mangrove Corg stock is 738.9 Mg Corg ha−1 and mean global stock is 6.17 Pg Corg, which equates to only 0.4–7% of terrestrial ecosystem Corg stocks but 17% of total tropical marine Corg stocks. Per unit area, mangroves sequester 179.6 g Corg m−2a−1 and globally about 15 Tg Corg a−1. Mangroves sequester only 4% (range 1.3–8%) of Corg sequestered by terrestrial ecosystems, indicating that mangroves are a minor contributor to global C storage and sequestration. CO2 emissions from mangrove losses equate to 0.036 Pg CO2-equivalents a−1 based on rates of C sequestration but 0.088 Pg CO2-equivalents a−1 based on complete destruction for conversion to aquaculture and agriculture. Mangrove CO2 emissions account for only 0.2% of total global CO2 emissions but 18% of CO2 emissions from the tropical coastal ocean. Despite significant data limitations, the role of mangrove ecosystems in climate change mitigation is small at the global scale but more significant in the tropical coastal ocean and effective at the national and regional scale, especially in areas with high rates of deforestation and destruction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change Impacts on Mangrove Ecosystems)
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