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Life
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Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management
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Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Diversity and Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 September 2023) | Viewed by 8053

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anirban Akhand

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. Department of Ocean Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
2. Coastal and Estuarine Environment Research Group, Port and Airport Research Institute, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Interests: carbonate system; blue carbon; air–water CO2 flux; mangroves; seagrass; phytoplankton; corals; climate change; global change biology
Dr. Abhra Chanda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Interests: biogeochemistry; estuary; wetlands; coastal waters; carbonate system; blue carbon; aquatic and sediment pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The carbon sequestration potential of the open ocean and coastal vegetated marine ecosystems was realized long ago as a promising avenue to combat climate change. The carbon dynamics in the marine sector encompass exchanges of carbon in various forms among the hydrosphere, pedosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. In the era of global climate change, it has become imperative to develop a holistic understanding of the mechanisms by which carbon remains locked in the biosphere. Coastal vegetated carbon stock, collectively referred to as blue carbon, plays a crucial role in alleviating the ever-increasing atmospheric CO2 and CH4 load emitted through a plethora of anthropogenic activities. Conservation of marine ecosystems to enhance the carbon sequestration potential of natural and artificial marine ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, lagoons, aquaculture ponds, and many other land use/land cover classes has been prioritized on a nationwide scale in many countries.

The present Special Issue of Life invites papers from this vast spectrum of topics that essentially includes marine carbon as the focal theme. We welcome submissions from any allied field that deal with the dynamics, conservation, and management of marine carbon and marine ecosystems, including coastal and open sea regions. The primary aim of this Special Issue is to collate cutting-edge research that can showcase marine carbon as a tool to alleviate global climate change.

Dr. Anirban Akhand
Dr. Abhra Chanda
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 4959 KiB  
Article
Changes in Salinity, Mangrove Community Ecology, and Organic Blue Carbon Stock in Response to Cyclones at Indian Sundarbans
by Abhiroop Chowdhury, Aliya Naz, Seema B. Sharma and Rajarshi Dasgupta
Life 2023, 13(7), 1539; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13071539 - 11 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1672
Abstract
Climate change-induced frequent cyclones are pumping saline seawater into the Sundarbans. Fani, Amphan, Bulbul, and Yaas were the major cyclones that hit the region during 2019–2021. This study represents the changes in the soil parameters, mangrove biodiversity and zonation due to the cyclone [...] Read more.
Climate change-induced frequent cyclones are pumping saline seawater into the Sundarbans. Fani, Amphan, Bulbul, and Yaas were the major cyclones that hit the region during 2019–2021. This study represents the changes in the soil parameters, mangrove biodiversity and zonation due to the cyclone surges in the Indian Sundarbans between 2017 and 2021. Increasing tidal water salinity (parts per thousand) trends in both pre-monsoon (21 to 33) and post-monsoon (14 to 19) seasons have been observed between 2017 and 2021. A 46% reduction in the soil organic blue carbon pool is observed due to a 31% increase in soil salinity. Soil organic blue carbon has been calculated by both wet digestion and the elemental analyzer method, which are linearly correlated with each other. A reduction in the available nitrogen (30%) and available phosphorous (33%) in the mangrove soil has also been observed. Salinity-sensitive mangroves, such as Xylocarpus granatum, Xylocarpus moluccensis, Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, and Bruguiera cylindrica, have seen local extinction in the sampled population. An increasing trend in relative density of salinity resilient, Avicennia marina, Suaeda maritima, Aegiceras corniculatum and a decreasing trend of true mangrove (Ceriops decandra) has been observed, in response to salinity rise in surface water as well as soil. As is evident from Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and the Abundance/Frequency ratio (A/F), the mangrove zonation observed in response to tidal gradient has also changed, becoming more homogeneous with a dominance of A. marina. These findings indicate that cyclone, climate change-induced sea level rise can adversely impact Sustainable Development Goal 13 (climate action), by decreasing organic soil blue carbon sink and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (life below water), by local extinction of salinity sensitive mangroves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management)
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11 pages, 1252 KiB  
Article
Variations in Soil Blue Carbon Sequestration between Natural Mangrove Metapopulations and a Mixed Mangrove Plantation: A Case Study from the World’s Largest Contiguous Mangrove Forest
by Abhiroop Chowdhury, Aliya Naz and Subodh Kumar Maiti
Life 2023, 13(2), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13020271 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2207
Abstract
Sundarban is the world’s largest mangrove wetland. This study, conducted in 2016, to compare blue carbon sequestration with different natural metapopulations and a four-year-old Avicennia marina (30% area)-Rhizophora mucronata (70% area)-mixed mangrove plantation under anthropoganic stress. The aims of the study is [...] Read more.
Sundarban is the world’s largest mangrove wetland. This study, conducted in 2016, to compare blue carbon sequestration with different natural metapopulations and a four-year-old Avicennia marina (30% area)-Rhizophora mucronata (70% area)-mixed mangrove plantation under anthropoganic stress. The aims of the study is to find out the variations in soil ecological function indicators (pH, electrical conductivity, bulk density, soil texture, available nitrogn, phosphorus and soil organic carbon) and key ecological service indicator (soil blue carbon pool) between sites. Simpson’s Index of dominance, diversity and Shannon-Weiner Index revealed that all the sites are under ecological stress, with the Suaeda maritima-dominated mudflat having the least biodiversity. It is also revealed that pH and electrical conductivity were highest in Suaeda maritima and Phoenix padulosa-dominated metapopulations, whereas organic carbon was the highest under the mangrove plantation and Avicennia marina-dominated site. Available nitrogen was recorded highest in the community with the Sonneretia sp.-Avicennia marina association. The mixed mangrove plantation had the highest blue carbon pool. The species diversity was not found to be related with the distance from the nearby conserved mangrove forest, contrary to the island biogeography theory. This study concludes with a recommendation of mixed mangrove plantations to restore the degraded saline mudflats along the human settlements across the globe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management)
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17 pages, 2105 KiB  
Article
The Interaction of Seasons and Biogeochemical Properties of Water Regulate the Air–Water CO2 Exchanges in Two Major Tropical Estuaries, Bay of Bengal (India)
by Suchismita Pattanaik, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, Debasish Mohapatra, Sanhita Swain, Chitta Ranjan Panda and Pradeep Kumar Dash
Life 2022, 12(10), 1536; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101536 - 2 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1663
Abstract
The exchange of CO2 between the air–water interfaces of estuaries is crucial from the perspective of the global carbon cycle and climate change feedback. In this regard, we evaluated the air–water CO2 exchanges in two major estuaries—the Mahanadi estuary (ME) and [...] Read more.
The exchange of CO2 between the air–water interfaces of estuaries is crucial from the perspective of the global carbon cycle and climate change feedback. In this regard, we evaluated the air–water CO2 exchanges in two major estuaries—the Mahanadi estuary (ME) and the Dhamra estuary (DE) in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, India. Biogeochemical properties of these estuarine waters were quantified in three distinct seasons, namely, pre-monsoon (March to May), monsoon (June to October), and post-monsoon (November to February). The significant properties of water, such as the water temperature, pH, salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a (chl a), and photosynthetic pigment fluorescence of phytoplankton, were estimated and correlated with CO2 fluxes. We found that the ME acted as a source of CO2 fluxes in the monsoon and post-monsoon, while DE acted as a sink during the monsoon. The stepwise regression model showed that the fluxes were primarily driven by water temperature, pH, and salinity, and they correlated well with the phytoplankton characteristics. The chl a content, fluorescence yield, and phycobilisomes-to-photosystem II fluorescence ratios were major drivers of the fluxes. Therefore, for predicting air–water CO2 exchanges precisely in a large area over a seasonal and annual scale in the estuaries of the Bay of Bengal, India, critical key parameters such as water temperature, pH, salinity, chl a, and fluorescence yield of phytoplankton should be taken into consideration. However, the responses of phytoplankton, both in terms of production and CO2 capture, are critical research areas for a better understanding of air–water CO2 exchanges in coastal ecology under climate change scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management)
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Review

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25 pages, 3815 KiB  
Review
Challenges towards the Sustainability and Enhancement of the Indian Sundarban Mangrove’s Blue Carbon Stock
by Abhra Chanda and Anirban Akhand
Life 2023, 13(8), 1787; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13081787 - 21 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1489
Abstract
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. [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Carbon Systems: Dynamics, Conservation, and Management)
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