Carbon stocks in the mangrove ecosystem of Rufiji River Delta, Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract. Lupembe IB, Munishi PKT. 2019. Carbon stocks in the mangrove ecosystem of Rufiji River Delta, Tanzania. Bonorowo Wetlands 9: 32-41. Carbon sequestration is one of the most important ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems. Despite this, most Tanzanian carbon storage research has focused on terrestrial environments. Carbon and volume prediction models for the mangrove ecosystem in Tanzania's Rufiji River Delta were constructed in this study. The created models were utilized to calculate carbon emissions. At various depths, the importance of soil organic carbon as a carbon storage was also evaluated. Using linear regression, a damaging sample of 50 trees spanning various DBH size classes was used to create biomass and volume, prediction models. Wet oxidation was used to determine the amount of organic carbon in the soil. Biomass models for stems, branches, roots, leaves, and twigs and volume prediction models for total volume were constructed. At P0.05 and P0.001, respectively, all linear and power form models constructed were significant. At 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, and 30-60 cm, organic carbon was 39.61 t ha-1, 28.04 t ha-1, and 32.85 t ha-1, respectively. The surface layer (0-15 cm) had considerably more soil organic carbon (39.61 t ha-1) than that at 15-30 cm (28.04 t ha-1) and 30-60 cm (32.85 t ha-1) depths (P0.05). The most biomass C was contributed by Rhizophora mucronata (39.87%), followed by Avicennia marina (39.86%). (28.06%). The smallest contributions came from Sonneratia alba (2.58%) and Lumnitzera racemosa (1.98%). Rhizophora mucronata contributed 39.3% of the overall volume, whereas Avicennia marina contributed 27.1%. Overall, soil organic carbon (61.6%) was nearly twice that of vegetation carbon (38.4%), highlighting the importance of soil as a carbon storage in mangrove ecosystems.