Elsevier

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 126, January 2018, Pages 275-280
Marine Pollution Bulletin

Baseline
Carbon accumulation and storage capacity in mangrove sediments three decades after deforestation within a eutrophic bay

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.018Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Sedimentary carbon flux was not significantly lower after deforestation.

  • Changes in TOC:OP and C:N ratios reflected eutrophication-driven algal deposition.

  • Mangrove deforestation resulted in the deposition of more labile organic matter.

  • Resulting carbon flux was three-fold lower than the mangrove global average.

Abstract

A dated sediment core from an eutrophic mangrove area presented non-significant differences in carbon accumulation rates before (55.7 ± 10.2 g m 2 yr 1) and after three decades of deforestation (59.7 ± 7.2 g m 2 yr 1). Although eutrophication effects appear to compensate the loss of mangrove organic matter input, the results in this work show a threefold lower carbon accumulation than the global averages estimated for mangrove sediments. The effects of increasing eutrophication and enhanced sediment dry bulk density observed after deforestation (~ 30% higher) did not result in higher carbon stocks. Moreover, the lower TOC:OP (< 400) and C:N (~ 20) molar ratios, as well as increased nutrient accumulation, reflect the dominance of phytoplankton-derived organic matter after deforestation, resulting in less-efficient sedimentary carbon sinks. These results indicate that the organic material deposited from eutrophication may not compensate mangrove deforestation losses on carbon accumulation in mangrove ecosystems.

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

AP is supported by a research grant from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq). CJS is supported by the Australian Research Council (DE160100443), in cooperation with Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF-Brazil). ACB thanks the support from Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). Also, we would like to thank our colleague Maritza S. Saldarriaga, who provided us with relevant

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