Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Mangrove forests store significant amounts of blue carbon, mainly as soil organic matter. Insights into mangrove organic matter are limited, despite its importance for understanding blue carbon accumulation and vulnerability to global change. Here, we quantified soil organic matter preserved through chemical recalcitrance and association with the mineral phase, as key factors influencing blue carbon persistence. We found that the nature of the soil organic matter varied with mangrove geomorphic settings. Delta settings were dominated by presumably the most persistent soil organic matter associated with minerals, while open coast karstic settings contained mostly particulate soil organic matter, likely preserved due to low microbial activity. Across mangrove soil depths, there was little difference in soil organic matter pools. The soil organic matter pool across mangroves’ geomorphic settings exhibited greater variation than that observed across all terrestrial biomes. These findings underscore the need to tailor mangrove conservation and restoration to geomorphic settings.
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University of Birmingham, The University of Queensland, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, University of New Caledonia, Institut de sciences exactes et appliquées, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Cereep Ecotron Île-de-France, Laboratoire de Géologie de l’École Normale Supérieure, James Cook University, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Adamas University, National University of Malaysia
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
OpenAlex ID: W4414158159