Wartman Melissa, Palacios Maria M, Nourice Barry, Macreadie Peter I, Constance Annabelle, Waryszak Pawel, Duarte de Paula Costa Micheli
Deakin Marine Research and Innovation Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood Campus, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia; Centre for Nature Positive Solutions, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
Deakin Marine Research and Innovation Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood Campus, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia; Centre for Nature Positive Solutions, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
J Environ Manage. 2025 Feb;374:123967. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123967. Epub 2025 Jan 9.
Mangrove forests play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, globally recognized as natural climate solution. The protection and restoration of mangrove ecosystems are especially important to Small Island Developing States, like Seychelles, due to their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise and tropical cyclones. Therefore, it is crucial for countries like Seychelles to develop baseline information on the status of their mangrove forests to guide conservation and management actions. In this study, we conducted a field campaign to collect local data on plant (i.e., aboveground and belowground) and soil carbon from representative mangrove forests in the inner and outer islands of Seychelles. We used this data to develop, for the first time, a blue carbon assessment for Seychelles' mangrove ecosystems. Seychelles holds 2195 ha of mangrove forests, with ∼80% of them found on the outer island of Aldabra Atoll. Seychelles mangrove ecosystems store 688,091 ± 18,353 tonnes of organic carbon (or 2.5 million tonnes COe) and an average of 477.0 ± 16.2 tonnes of carbon per hectare, with 70% of their total carbon stocks stored in their soils. Aldabra Atoll holds the highest total carbon stocks, accounting for 67% of Seychelles' mangrove stocks, despite having a relatively shallow soil organic layer (∼40 cm) due to the dominance of limestone and 'coral champignon' below 40 cm depth. Seychelles currently protects ∼85% of its mangrove extent including the Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage and Ramsar site, and Port Launay, a Ramsar site. Overall, field data from this study demonstrates the important climate mitigation potential of Seychelles' mangrove forests and the important role they play in supporting Seychelles in achieving its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments.
红树林在缓解和适应气候变化方面发挥着重要作用，在全球被视为自然气候解决方案。由于小岛屿发展中国家，如塞舌尔，易受气候变化影响，如海平面上升和热带气旋，因此红树林生态系统的保护和恢复对它们尤为重要。因此，对于塞舌尔这样的国家来说，制定其红树林森林状况的基线信息以指导保护和管理行动至关重要。在本研究中，我们开展了一项实地考察，以收集塞舌尔内岛和外岛代表性红树林中植物（即地上和地下）及土壤碳的本地数据。我们首次利用这些数据对塞舌尔的红树林生态系统进行了蓝碳评估。塞舌尔拥有2195公顷红树林，其中约80%位于阿尔达布拉环礁外岛。塞舌尔的红树林生态系统储存了688,091±18,353吨有机碳（或250万吨二氧化碳当量），平均每公顷储存477.0±16.2吨碳，其总碳储量的70%储存在土壤中。尽管由于40厘米以下石灰岩和“珊瑚香菇”占主导地位，土壤有机层相对较浅（约40厘米），但阿尔达布拉环礁的总碳储量最高，占塞舌尔红树林储量的67%。塞舌尔目前保护着约85%的红树林区域，包括联合国教科文组织世界遗产和拉姆萨尔湿地阿尔达布拉环礁，以及拉姆萨尔湿地拉奈港。总体而言，本研究的实地数据证明了塞舌尔红树林在缓解气候方面的重要潜力，以及它们在支持塞舌尔实现其国家自主贡献（NDCs）承诺方面所发挥的重要作用。
