Aboveground carbon stock of marine mangroves in Kepulauan Seribu Islands

Abstract

Mangroves, as one of the important blue carbon ecosystems, store large amounts of organic carbon. In the last decades, carbon stock assessment in mangrove ecosystems has been increased intensely following international agreements targeted at reducing global carbon emission. Many studies have investigated carbon stock potential in mangrove ecosystems, however, little is known about carbon stocks of mangroves growing in carbonate setting in small islands. These marine mangroves usually receive little or no terrestrial input, thus may have limited nutrient availability to support their growth. Meanwhile, their contribution to a global carbon inventory cannot be neglected. Here, we assessed biomass carbon stock of marine mangroves in Kepulauan Seribu, Jakarta, by using published allometric equations. Data collection was conducted in seven small islands; Burung Island, Kongsi Island, Pari Island, Lancang Besar Island, Lancang Kecil Island, Pramuka Island, and Rambut Island. The total average aboveground carbon stock was 46.68 Mg C ha−1, with Rhizopora sp. as the dominant species. The highest carbon stock was measured in Pari Island (72.1 ± 30.4 C ha−1), followed by Lancang Kecil Island (62.4 ± 38.6 Mg C ha−1), Kongsi Island (54.1 ± 27.0 Mg C ha−1), Rambut Island (52.1 ± 21.6 Mg C ha-1), Burung Island (47.9 ± 21.0 Mg C ha−1), Lancang Besar Island (31.3 ± 13.8 Mg C ha−1), and the lowest was in Pramuka Island (6.8 ± 4.8 Mg C ha-1). Mangrove aboveground carbon in these islands were comparable to those in other areas. Having thousands of small islands, Indonesia thus has a significant contribution to global climate change mitigation.