Above-Ground Biomass, Nutrients and Carbon in &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Aegiceras corniculatum&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; of the Sundarbans

Mahmood Hossain,Md Al-Amin Shaikh,Chameli Saha,S M Rubaiot Abdullah,Sanjoy Saha,Mohammad Raqibul Hasan Siddique

doi:10.4236/ojf.2016.62007

Abstract

Aegiceras corniculatum grows as single-stemmed evergreen shrub or small tree in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh. The objectives of this study were to derive the allometric models for estimating above-ground biomass, nutrients (N, P and K) and carbon stock in A. corniclatum. A total of 8 linear models (y = aX + b, , y = aLogX + b, Logy = aX + b, Logy = aLogX + b, y = alnX + b, Lny = aX + b and Lny = alnX + b) with 64 regression equations were tested to derive the allometric model for biomass of each plant part; and nutrients and carbon stock in total aboveground biomass. The best fit allometric models were selected by considering the values of R2, CV, Rmse, MSerror, Sa, Sb, F value, AICc and Furnival Index. The selected allometric models were Logbiomass = 0.76LogDBH2 - 1.39; Biomass = 0.07DBH2 - 0.49; Logbiomass = 1.04LogDBH2 - 1.80; Logbiomass = 1.04LogDBH2 - 0.99; = 0.48DBH - 0.13 for leaves, branches, bark, stem without bark and total above-ground biomass respectively. The selected allometric models for Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium and Carbon stock in total above-ground biomass were = 0.67DBH + 0.11; = 0.94DBH + 0.08; = 1.06DBH - 0.18; = 0.33DBH - 0.09 respectively.

Highlights

Mangroves are various trees and shrubs that grow in saline muddy habitats in the tropical and subtropical sheltered coastline (Tomlinson, 1986)
Total above-ground Biomass alnX + b, Lny = aX + b and Lny = alnX + b) with 64 regression equations were tested to derive the allometric model for biomass of each plant part; and nutrients and carbon stock in total above ground biomass (Mahmood et al, 2015)
The mean biomass proportion of different parts of A. corniculatum was varied with Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) classes

Summary

Introduction

Mangroves are various trees and shrubs that grow in saline muddy habitats in the tropical and subtropical sheltered coastline (Tomlinson, 1986). About 35% of the total mangrove area of the world was destructed within 20 years from 1980 to 2000 (MA, 2005) through the conversion to agriculture, aquaculture, urbanization, tourism and over exploitation of resources (Alongi, 2002; FAO, 2007) This forest covers about 181,377 km and distributed in 124 countries (FAO, 2005). Mangrove ecosystem provides wood and fuel, protection from cyclones and tsunamis, nursery and breeding sites for many aquatic organisms. It reduces coastal erosion, flooding, and maintains nutrient cycling and water quality (Lugo & Snedekar, 1974; Dinerstein et al, 1995; Mahmood et al, 2005; Ellison, 2008; Mahmood et al, 2008a). The allometric method estimates the whole or partial weight of a tree using regression equations, which is a useful and non-destructive method for estimating forest biomass from the independent variables (Like diameter and height) (Golley et al, 1975; Ketterings et al, 2001) and has widely been used for estimating biomass of mangroves e.g. Tamai et al (1986); Komiyama et al (2002); Clough et al (1997); Fromard et al (1998); Mahmood et al (2012); Siddique et al (2012); Peters et al (2014); Mahmood et al (2015)

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Conclusion