The age and species composition of mangrove forest directly influence the net primary productivity and carbon sequestration potential

Food Source Identification of Macrozoobenthos in the Mangrove Ecosystem of Lubuk Damar, Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia: A Stable Isotope Approach

Changes in the existence of mangroves will have an impact on changes in food webs in their respective areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the food source of the macrozoobenthos community within the Lubuk Damar mangrove ecosystem. Stable isotopes, carbon and nitrogen were used to describe the food sources for macrozoobenthos in the mangrove ecosystem of the Lubuk Damar Ecosystem, Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia. The stable isotope analysis of 13C and 15N was carried out using Isotopic-Ratio Mass Spectrometry. Potential food sources at the study site based on stable isotope ratios ranged between -29.08‰ to -20.66‰ (δ13C) and 4.07‰ to 5.63‰ (δ15N); macrozoobenthos -25.00‰ to -14.76‰ (δ13C) and 5.59‰ to 7.73‰ (δ15N). The potential food sources tested at the study site consisted of seven sources, but not all food sources in the ecosystem were consumed by the invertebrate community. This study shows that mangrove leaf litter serves as a food source for some invertebrates, such as the bivalves, gastropods, polychaetes, sipunculans, brachiopods and crustaceans. The results of this study evidence that the examined mangrove ecosystem has a function as a provider of food sources in the surrounding waters, therefore its existence is very important supporting diversity of coastal waters.

Challenges towards the Sustainability and Enhancement of the Indian Sundarban Mangrove's Blue Carbon Stock

The Sundarban is the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest and stores around 26.62 Tg of blue carbon. The present study reviewed the factors causing a decline in its blue carbon content and poses a challenge in enhancing the carbon stock of this region. This review emphasized that recurrent tropical cyclones, soil erosion, freshwater scarcity, reduced sediment load into the delta, nutrient deficiency, salt-stress-induced changes in species composition, mangrove clearing, and anthropogenic pollution are the fundamental drivers which can potentially reduce the total blue carbon stock of this region. The southern end of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta that shelters this forest has stopped its natural progradation due to inadequate sediment flow from the upper reaches. Growing population pressure from the north of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve and severe erosion in the southern end accentuated by regional sea-level rise has left minimal options to enhance the blue carbon stock by extending the forest premises. This study collated the scholarly observations of the past decades from this region, indicating a carbon sequestration potential deterioration. By collecting the existing knowledge base, this review indicated the aspects that require immediate attention to stop this ecosystem's draining of the valuable carbon sequestered and, at the same time, enhance the carbon stock, if possible. This review provided some key recommendations that can help sustain the blue carbon stock of the Indian Sundarban. This review stressed that characterizing the spatial variability of blue carbon with more sampling points, catering to the damaged trees after tropical cyclones, estuarine rejuvenation in the upper reaches, maintaining species diversity through afforestation programs, arresting coastal erosion through increasing sediment flow, and combating marine pollution have become urgent needs of the hour. The observations synthesized in this study can be helpful for academics, policy managers, and decision makers willing to uphold the sustainability of the blue carbon stock of this crucial ecosystem.

Determining the contributions of climate change and human activities to the vegetation NPP dynamics in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, from 2000 to 2015

Reflecting on the change in the global biodiversity pattern, the Tibetan Plateau, considered to be a "natural laboratory" for analyzing environmental change in China and around the world, has suffered profound changes in the vegetation ecosystem. This study introduces the gravity center model and geographical detectors to examine and discuss the spatial-temporal change pattern and the driving mechanism behind vegetation net primary production (NPP) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the year 2000 to 2015 while also quantitatively classifying the relative roles incorporated in the NPP change process. The study found that (1) from 2000 to 2015, the annual average NPP of the Tibetan Plateau demonstrated a declining trend from southeast to northwest. (2) The gravity center of vegetation NPP on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau seems to have shifted eastward in the past 16 years, indicating that the level of vegetation NPP in the east depicts a greater increment and growth rate than the west. (3) In the arid regions, temperature and rainfall appear as the dominant factors for vegetation NPP, while slope and aspect parameters have constantly assumed dominancy for the same in the tropical rainforest-monsoon ecological zone in southeastern Tibet. (4) The structure of vegetation NPP exhibits an interaction between human and natural factors, which enhances the influence of single factors. (5) Considering the global ecological change and related human activities, certain differences are observed in the dominant and interaction factors for different study periods and ecological subregions in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The research results could prove conclusive for vegetation ecological protection in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.