Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Institute of Ocean Engineering, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 10;14(1):756. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36477-1.
Significant efforts have been invested to restore mangrove forests worldwide through reforestation and afforestation. However, blue carbon benefit has not been compared between these two silvicultural pathways at the global scale. Here, we integrated results from direct field measurements of over 370 restoration sites around the world to show that mangrove reforestation (reestablishing mangroves where they previously colonized) had a greater carbon storage potential per hectare than afforestation (establishing mangroves where not previously mangrove). Greater carbon accumulation was mainly attributed to favorable intertidal positioning, higher nitrogen availability, and lower salinity at most reforestation sites. Reforestation of all physically feasible areas in the deforested mangrove regions of the world could promote the uptake of 671.5-688.8 Tg CO-eq globally over a 40-year period, 60% more than afforesting the same global area on tidal flats (more marginal sites). Along with avoiding conflicts of habitat conversion, mangrove reforestation should be given priority when designing nature-based solutions for mitigating global climate change.
全球范围内已经投入了大量努力通过重新造林和造林来恢复红树林。然而，这两种造林途径的蓝碳效益尚未在全球范围内进行比较。在这里，我们综合了来自世界各地 370 多个修复地点的直接实地测量结果，表明红树林再造林（在先前红树林生长的地方重新造林）每公顷的碳储存潜力大于造林（在先前没有红树林的地方造林）。更高的碳积累主要归因于大多数再造林地点有利的潮间带位置、更高的氮可用性和更低的盐度。在全球已砍伐红树林地区的所有可行的物理区域进行再造林，在 40 年内可能会促进全球吸收 671.5-688.8 兆吨 CO-eq，比在潮滩（更边缘的地点）造林相同的全球面积多 60%。除了避免栖息地转换的冲突外，在设计基于自然的缓解全球气候变化解决方案时，应优先考虑红树林再造林。
