Mangroves: Carbon Captains of the Coast

Photo by Mohmed Nazeeh

Did you know mangroves absorb carbon dioxide at a rate 10 times faster than mature tropical forests?

But first, what are mangroves? 

Mangrove forests grow in warm coastal areas, and are important ecosystems that support a diverse wildlife. They are also helpful in the fight against climate change, because they remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There are many different types of trees that grow in a mangrove forest, depending on the region.

Like all trees, mangroves absorb carbon dioxide from the air through their leaves in a process called photosynthesis. This is converted into the fuel they use to grow and stored in all parts of the tree–the leaves, branches, stem, and the roots. It’s also deposited into the soil. 

Mangroves can hold 3-to-5 times more carbon compared to tropical forests, based on the same size area. One of the most interesting facts about mangroves is that they store carbon for extremely long periods. Most of the carbon they absorb ends up in their roots and in the soil, and because they grow along coastlines, their soil is often underwater. This muddy, wet environment doesn’t have a lot of oxygen, which slows down the breakdown of organic matter. This way, the carbon they’ve taken from the air remains trapped underwater for many years — sometimes even centuries. Not only that, but mangroves can hold 3-to-5 times more carbon compared to land-based tropical forests of  the same size.

Now, why is storing carbon dioxide so important?

Higher-than-normal carbon dioxide levels in the air contribute to the climate’s rise in temperatures, as well as the rapid change in weather patterns, like stronger hurricanes or longer droughts. Removing carbon dioxide from the air is important if we want to keep these changes from growing worse over time. 

Luckily, mangroves are here to do this job, as long as they are protected. If these forests get damaged or destroyed, all the carbon they have stored over time will be released back into the atmosphere. This is why it’s so important to protect the world’s mangrove forests–without them, their carbon dioxide would be released and they wouldn’t be absorbing it anymore. If we can find ways to protect them, we can help make sure they continue storing and removing the larger-than-normal amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

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Sources:

Ocean Service | https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/#
NASA | https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3009/nasa-study-maps-the-roots-of-global-mangrove-loss/#
International Union for Conservation of Nature | https://www.iucn.org/news/forests/201701/mangrove-restoration-offering-two-one-solutions-climate-change#

Nature.org | https://www.nature.org/media/oceansandcoasts/mangroves-for-coastal-defence.pdf

National Parks | https://www.nparks.gov.sg/nparksbuzz/nov-issue-2021/conservation/trees-of-the-mangroves