Melaleuca forests in Australia have globally significant carbon stocks

Abstract

Melaleuca forest is one of the unique ecosystems in Australia which plays an important role to provide carbon storage helping mitigation to the global climate change, thus understanding how much carbon can be stored in the types of forests is necessary. In this study, data was collected and analyzed from four typical sorts of Melaleuca forests in Australia including: primary Melaleuca forests subject to continuous water inundation; primary Melaleuca forests not inundated by water; degraded Melaleuca forests subject to continuous water inundation; and regenerating Melaleuca forests subject to continuous water inundation. The carbon stocks of these typical Melaleuca forests were 381; 278; 210; and 241tha−1 of carbon, respectively. Averagely, carbon stocks were 169 (±26)tha−1 of carbon in the above-ground biomass and 104 (±16)tha−1 of carbon in soil and roots. The results provide important information for the future sustainable management of Melaleuca forests at both the national and regional scales, particularly in regards to forest carbon conservation and carbon farming initiatives. The results establish that Melaleuca forests in Australia hold globally significant stores of carbon which are likely to be much higher than previously estimated and used in national emissions reporting.