Inácio Da Costa, F.; Macamo, C. Forest Structure and Carbon Reserve in Natural and Replanted Mangrove Forests in Different Years in the Limpopo Estuary, Gaza Province, Mozambique. Forests2023, 14, 2375.
Inácio Da Costa, F.; Macamo, C. Forest Structure and Carbon Reserve in Natural and Replanted Mangrove Forests in Different Years in the Limpopo Estuary, Gaza Province, Mozambique. Forests 2023, 14, 2375.
Inácio Da Costa, F.; Macamo, C. Forest Structure and Carbon Reserve in Natural and Replanted Mangrove Forests in Different Years in the Limpopo Estuary, Gaza Province, Mozambique. Forests2023, 14, 2375.
Inácio Da Costa, F.; Macamo, C. Forest Structure and Carbon Reserve in Natural and Replanted Mangrove Forests in Different Years in the Limpopo Estuary, Gaza Province, Mozambique. Forests 2023, 14, 2375.
Abstract
The Limpopo estuary mangrove forest covers about 928 ha, however 382 ha remain intact and 546 ha were degraded after the 2000 floods. Mangrove replanting campaigns have been carried out at the site. This article aims to evaluate the structure and carbon pool of aboveground and belowground living biomass and soil carbon in natural and replanted mangrove forests (2016, 2014 and 2010). The methodology consisted of selecting 40 strata where structural data were collected. Living biomass above and below ground and soil carbon was obtained based on the methodology described by Kauffman and Donato (2012). The results showed that A. marina was the most observed species in all study areas. The carbon reserve of living biomass above and below ground in the natural forest was 67.9±100.9 MgCha -1 and 65.0±77.1MgC ha -1 , respectively; and in the planted forests (2016, 2014, 2010) it was 1.1±0.5MgCha-1 and 2.1±1.0MgCha-1, 1.8±1.0MgCha-1 and 3.6±2.0MgCha-1, 3.7±2.0MgCha-1 and 5.3±2.5MgCha-1 . Soil carbon reserve was 229.4±119.4 MgCha-1 in natural forest and 230.3±134.8 MgCha-1 , 234.8±132.7MgC ha-1, 229.4±119.4 MgCha-1 in planted forests (2016, 2014, 2010). The total carbon reserve in the natural forest was 362.3 MgCha-1 and in the planted forestsn(2016, 2014, 2010) it was 233.5 MgCha-1 , 240.2 MgCha-1, 246.4 MgCha-1. Natural and restored forests had similar anoumts of soil carbon, which reinforces the idea that soil is a stabel carbon pool. Morever, restored forests failed to store the same amount of live biomass (an carbon), which supports the idea that it is better to prevent habitat degradation than to restore it.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
