Effect of degradation of a black mangrove forest on seasonal greenhouse gas emissions

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 29; no. 8; pp. 11951 - 11965
• Main Authors: Romero-Uribe, Humberto M., López-Portillo, Jorge, Reverchon, Frédérique, Hernández, María E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Avicennia; Avicennia germinans; Biogeochemical cycles; canopy; Carbon cycle; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - analysis; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; coastal water; Dry season; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology; Emissions; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental degradation; Environmental factors; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Fluxes; Forests; global carbon budget; Greenhouse Effect; Greenhouse gases; Greenhouse Gases - analysis; Hydrology; Lagoons; mangrove forests; Mangrove swamps; Mangroves; Methane; Methane - analysis; Mexico; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrous oxide; Nitrous Oxide - analysis; Perturbation; pneumatophores; Pore water; Rainy season; Redox potential; Research Article; salinity; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Soil; soil carbon; Soil dynamics; Soil temperature; Soils; temperature; Waste Water Technology; Water levels; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; wet season; Wetlands; Mexico; Methane; Mangrove soil; Nitrous oxide; Temporal variation; Gas exchange; Carbon dioxide
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-16597-1

Mangroves play an essential role in the global carbon cycle. However, they are highly vulnerable to degradation with little-known effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study compared seasonal soil carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes from a black mangrove ( Avicennia germinans ) forest in the Tampamachoco coastal lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico, in areas subjected to different degrees of environmental degradation (full canopy, transitional and dead mangrove), caused by hydrological perturbation. Furthermore, we aimed at determining the environmental factors driving seasonal fluxes. There was a combined effect of seasonality and degradation on CH 4 fluxes, highest during the rainy season in the dead mangrove (0.93 ± 0.18 mg CH 4 m -2 h -1 ). CO 2 fluxes were highest during the dry season (220 ± 23 mg CO 2 m -2 h -1 ), with no significant differences among degradation levels. N 2 O fluxes did not vary among seasons or degradation levels (− 3.8 to 2.9 mg N 2 O m -2 h -1 ). The overall CO 2 -eq emission rate was 15.3 ± 2.7 Mg CO 2 -eq ha -1 year -1 , with CO 2 as the main gas contributing to total emissions. The main factors controlling CH 4 fluxes were seasonal porewater salinity and the availability of NO 2 – , NO 3 – , and SO 4 –2 in the soil, favored by high water level and temperature in the absence of pneumatophores. The main determining factors controlling CO 2 fluxes were water level, porewater redox potential, and soil Cl – and SO 4 –2 concentration. Finally, N 2 O fluxes were related to NO 2 – , NO 3 – , and SO 4 –2 soil concentrations. This study contributes to improving the knowledge of soil GHG fluxes dynamics in mangroves and the effect of degradation of these ecosystems on the coastal biogeochemical cycles, which may bring important insights for assessing accurate ways to mitigate climate change protecting and restoring these ecosystems.