Carbon Storage of Mangrove Forests in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

The emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) gases into the atmosphere is caused by human activities such as manufacturing, vehicle smoke, open burning, and clearing areas of agriculture or development activities. This is a major contributor to global climate change. Mangrove forest is one of the potential areas for carbon storage. For many years, the number of Mangrove forests in Malaysia has been decreasing due to some anthropogenic activity and the exploitation of them for economic gain. This study aims to compare and measure the carbon storage of two different types of mangroves in Malaysia, namely the WSSM and AALL mangroves. The soil samples were randomly collected using peat augers at depths between 0 and 30 cm, and 40 samples were analyzed with a CHNS analyzer. The total carbon content of the soil samples was found to be 12.11% for WSSM and 2.64% for AALL. The significant results and the total soil carbon of humic acid observed at both study sites as well as the seasonal variation led to the conclusion that the soil of mangrove has carbon sequestration potential. As a wildlife sanctuary, Sibuti Mangrove Forest has higher carbon sequestration due to less anthropogenic activity than AALL Mangrove Forest. The conclusion is that the soil of WSSM Mangrove Forest is better in terms of location effect than the soil of AALL. During seasonal sampling comparison, higher soil total carbon content was observed.