Organic carbon dynamics in mangrove ecosystems : a review

By E. Kristensen, S. Bouillon, T. Dittmar, C. Marchand. 2008

1,343 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Our current knowledge on production, composition, transport, pathways and transformations of organic carbon in tropical mangrove environments is reviewed and discussed. Organic carbon entering mangrove foodwebs is either produced autochthonously or imported by tides and/or rivers. Mangrove litter and benthic microalgae are usually the most important autochthonous carbon sources. Depending on local conditions, phytoplankton and seagrass detritus imported with tides may represent a significant supplementary carbon input. Litter handling by the fauna not only affects microbial carbon transformations, but also the amount of organic carbon available for export. Most mangrove detritus that enters the sediment is degraded by microorganisms. Aerobic respiration and anaerobic sulfate reduction are usually considered the most important microbial respiration processes, but recent evidence suggests that iron respiration may be important in mangrove sediments as well. Organic carbon that escapes microbial degradation is stored in sediments and in some mangrove ecosystems, organic-rich sediments may extend to several meters depth. Many mangrove forests also lose a significant fraction of their net primary production to coastal waters. Large differences occur between mangrove forests with respect to litter production and export. Mangrove-derived DOC is also released into the water column and can add to the total organic carbon export. Numerous compounds have been characterized from mangrove tissues, including carbohydrates, amino acids, lignin-derived phenols, tannins, fatty acids, triterpenoids and n-alkanes. Many of these may, together with stable isotopes, exhibit a strong source signature and are potentially useful tracers of mangrove-derived organic matter. Our knowledge on mangrove carbon dynamics has improved considerably in recent years, but there are still significant gaps and shortcomings. These are emphasized and relevant research directions are suggested.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/627c5ae828fd6a099bf6741204571940b42ac2f5

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Citations in the corpus

The habitat function of mangroves for terrestrial and marine fauna: a review (2008, background): “In addition, their feeding on the sediment surface (deposit feeding) and plant matter (detritivory) promotes nutrient recycling (see also Kristensen et al., 2008).”
Potential for landscape-scale positive interactions among tropical marine ecosystems (2014, background): “Mangrove ecosystems are biogeochemically complex, with high nutrient pro - cessing and outputs by associated fauna (Lee 1995, Kristensen et al. 2008).”
Faunal impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests: A review (2008, background): “If the role of mangrove litter retention by crabs in maintaining the organic matter into the system is certain, their trophic role is still a matter of debate (see also Kristensen et al., 2008).”
Bioremediation of Mangroves Impacted by Petroleum (2011, background): “All organic matter in mangroves that is not exported by tides stays in the sediment and is degraded or chemically modified by microorganisms (Kristensen et al. 2008).”
Remote Sensing of Mangrove Ecosystems: A Review (2011, background): “Furthermore, mangroves are important for the carbon balance of the coastal zone [52,53].”
Functionality of restored mangroves: A review (2008, background): “While mangrove associated fauna play such a significant role in the functioning of the ecosystem (Kristensen, 2007; Lee, 2007; Cannicci et al., 2008; Kristensen et al., 2008; Nagelkerken et al., 2008) and thus can be a useful indicator of the state of managed mangroves, silvicultural management more”
Soil carbon stocks and accumulation in young mangrove forests (2014, background): “, 2011; Alongi, 2012), but such reviews focus on mature forests and the existing data appear to be biased toward highly organic systems (Kristensen et al., 2008).”
Mangrove management for climate change adaptation and sustainable development in coastal zones (2018, positive): “Carbon accumulates in both tree wood and peat, and mangroves can sequester C at a rate of 1.5tC/ha-yr (Gong & Ong, 1990), with belowground biomass constituting 10 – 55% of the total biomass (Kristensen et al., 2008).”
Mangrove Ecosystems: A Global Biogeographic Perspective (2017, positive): “In: Rivera-Monroy VH, Lee S, Kristiansen YE, Twilley RR (eds) Mangrove ecosystems: a global biogeographic perspective structure, function and ecosystem services. Springer, New York, pp XX–XX Jennerjahn TC, Ittekkot V (2002) Relevance of mangroves for the production and deposition of organic matter a”
Molecular ecology and biogeography of mangrove trees towards conceptual insights on gene flow and barriers: A review (2008, background): “…faunal organisms (Nagelkerken et al., 2008; Cannicci et al., 2008) and providing essential functions and services to tropical and subtropical zones and their populations (Kristensen et al., 2008; Walters et al., 2008), mangroves are one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems (Duke et al., 2007).”
The Indian Sundarban Mangrove Forests: History, Utilization, Conservation Strategies and Local Perception (2015, background): “These ecosystems are also vital carbon sinks, either storing carbon temporarily within organic peat soils, or as dissolved organic carbon in ocean sediments at greater depths, offsetting climatic-active greenhouse gasses for longer periods [10].”
Long-term retrospection on mangrove development using transdisciplinary approaches: A review (2008, background): “…are used to trace the cycling or fixation of nutrients such as in research on trophic relationships between organisms and between adjacent ecosystems (Marguillier et al., 1997; Bouillon et al., 2002, 2003; Cocheret de la Morinière et al., 2003; Bouillon et al., 2007; Kristensen et al., 2008).”
Mangrove and Seagrass Beds Provide Different Biogeochemical Services for Corals Threatened by Climate Change (2016, background): “…this study had carbonate chemistry conditions in part 525 influenced by the local benthic composition, but they also appeared to be largely affected by 526 other biological processes such as decomposition (Lugo, 1974; Lovelock and Ellison, 2007; 527 Bouillion et al., 2008; Kristensen et al., 2008).”