Abstract
Mangrove forests cover a small fraction of the earth’s surface, but contribute disproportionately to ecosystem services, including carbon (C) storage. These forests are being rapidly degraded as demand for economic development grows. In recognition of the multiple benefits of mangrove forests, rehabilitation of degraded forests is being carried out in many regions. This study assesses the potential for restored mangrove forests in Vietnam to sequester and store C, by characterizing two different mangrove restoration areas in the Mekong Delta region. The Can Gio Mangrove Biospheres Reserve (CGMBR) in Ho Chi Minh City was highly degraded during the Vietnam War and was subsequently replanted between 1978 and 1998. The Kien Vang Protection Forest (KVPF) in Ca Mau Province was similarly degraded during the war, but unlike CGMBR, it has experienced natural regeneration over the last 35 years. We find that vegetation structure between two sites are not different significantly, though CGMBR has richer mangrove species diversity than KVPF. The mean of total ecosystem C stocks in planted mangroves of CGMBR (889 ± 111 MgC ha−1) is not significantly different compare to natural regeneration forests of KVPF (844 ± 58 MgC ha−1). Our findings suggest that after 35 years, both anthropogenically and naturally regenerated mangroves appear to store similar levels of C.
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Acknowledgments
The research was conducted under the Sustainable Wetland Adaptation and Mitigation Program (SWAMP), supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (MTO. 069018). We would like to thank the authorities of Can Gio District Peoples Committee, Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve of Ho Chi Minh City, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau province and the KVPF Management Board who facilitated the collection of field data. We would like to thank Kemen Austin and Imam Basuki provided useful comments on the manuscript. This paper is number #25 in the SWAMP peer-reviewed publication series (www.cifor.org/swamp).
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Nam, V.N., Sasmito, S.D., Murdiyarso, D. et al. Carbon stocks in artificially and naturally regenerated mangrove ecosystems in the Mekong Delta. Wetlands Ecol Manage 24, 231–244 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-015-9479-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-015-9479-2