Effects of Sea-Level Rise on Blue Carbon Stocks of Mangrove Ecosystems: Insights from Pohnpei Island, FSM

Fujimoto, Kiyoshi; Furukawa, Keita; Ono, Kenji; Watanabe, Shin; Eperiam, Eugene (2023-07-31). "Effects of Sea-Level Rise on Blue Carbon Stocks of Mangrove Ecosystems: Insights from Pohnpei Island, FSM". Carbon Footprints. 2 (3): 1–19. doi:10.20517/cf.2023.12. ISSN 2831-932X.

Abstract: Carbon storage processes in mangrove ecosystems are summarized and future research directions are discussed based on findings from our long-term monitoring studies on Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. On Pohnpei, where coral reef-type mangrove forests dominate, Rhizophora communities maintain their habitat by accumulating mangrove peat at over 5 mm year-1 in response to rapid sea-level rise, but surface erosion is progressing in communities where the tree density of Rhizophora spp. has declined through succession. However, high-resolution aerial photographs taken by drones have identified trees with reduced vigor even in Rhizophora forests, and if sea-level rise occurs at a rate close to the IPCC's maximum prediction, then Rhizophora forests, which are valuable carbon storage sites due to mangrove peat accumulation, are likely to disappear. The impact of relative sea-level rise is determined by the sum of the rate of ground-level change by the external sediment budget and the rate of ground-level rise with mangrove peat accumulation. In the future, each region will need to conduct its own quantitative evaluation.

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