Carbon Cycling in Mangrove Ecosystem of Western Bay of Bengal (India)

Abstract

Carbon cycling in the mangrove ecosystem is one of the important processes determining the potential of coastal vegetation (mangroves), sediment, and adjoining waters to carbon absorption. This paper investigates the carbon storage capacity of five dominant mangrove species (Avicenia marina, Avicenia officinalis, Excoecaria agallocha, Rhizophora mucronata, and Xylocarpous granatum) on the east coast of the Indian mangrove along with the role they play in the carbon cycling phenomenon. Soil and water parameters were analyzed simultaneously with Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and Above Ground Carbon (AGC) values for 10 selected stations along. The total carbon (TC) calculated from the study area varied from 51.35 ± 6.77 to 322.47 ± 110.79 tons per hectare with a mean total carbon of 117.89 ± 28.90 and 432.64 ± 106.05 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). The alarm of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for reducing carbon emissions has been addressed by calculating the amount of carbon stored in biotic (mangroves) and abiotic (soil and water) compartments. This paper focuses on the technical investigations on the factors that control the carbon cycling process in mangroves. This blue carbon will help policymakers to develop a sustainable relationship between marine resource management and coastal inhabitants so that carbon trading markets can be developed, and the ecosystem is balanced