Distribution Pattern and Influencing Factors for Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) in Mangrove Communities at Dongzhaigang, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Huang, X.; Wang, X.; Li, X.; Xin, K.; Yan, Z.; Sun, Y., and Bellerby, R., 2018. Distribution pattern and influencing factors for soil organic carbon (SOC) in mangrove communities at Dongzhaigang, China. Mangrove wetlands constitute an important carbon pool and play an important role in the global carbon balance. Understanding the distribution and influencing factors for soil organic carbon (SOC) in different mangrove communities can improve the estimation of carbon sink capacity. The SOC content and physicochemical properties were investigated from six mangrove communities dominated by Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera sexangula, Sonneratia apetala, Rhizophora stylosa, or Ceriops tagal in Dongzhaigang, Southern China. The SOC content ranged from 2.60 to 89.51 g kg−1 with a mean of 18.35 g kg−1. The SOC content and density decreased with the depth from surface to bottom and with the tidal gradient from the low intertidal zone to the high intertidal zone except for the SOC density...