Carbon pools and multiple benefits

Comparisonwith adjacent Central African Rainforests of the Congo Basin Ecosystem carbon storage reported in the mangroves of Central Africa is among the largest for any tropical forest in the world (IPCC, 2007). Our results were compared with some of the reported carbon stocks of the terrestrial rainforest of Congo basin (Figure 5). For consistency, we have only utilized above ground biomass; as most of the studies in terrestrial forests lacked below ground carbon stocks. Above ground carbon pools were 209 Tonnes C/ha in the Dja Biosphere Reserve (Djuikouo et al., 2011), 188 Tonnes C/ha in Campo Ma’an National Park (Kanmegne, 2004), and 178.5 Tonnes C/ha in Korup National Park (Chuyong, unpublished data); all in Cameroon. From the

abovedata, theaverageabovegroundcarbonpool for undisturbed rainforest in Central Africa was 192 Tonnes C/ha. The average above ground carbon pool for mangrove forests was 247Tonnes C/ha. Figure 5: Above ground carbon stocks of selected terrestrial rainforest in Congo basin and the mangroves sampled in this study.

280

210

140

70 MgC/ha

0

Dja Biosphere Reserve

Korup National park

Average mangroves of central Africa

Figure 4: Partitioning of carbon stocks within mangrove forests of different disturbance regimes in Central Africa. Also see Appendix II.

Heavily exploited forests

Moderately exploited forests

Undisturbed exploited forests

0 200 400 600 800

0 200 400 600 800

0 200 400 600 800

-800 -600 -400 -200

-800 -600 -400 -200

-800 -600 -400 -200

-1200 -1000

-1200 -1000

-1200 -1000

Carbon density (Mg/ha)

Carbon density (Mg/ha)

Carbon density (Mg/ha)

Below ground Above ground

Below ground Above ground

Below ground Above ground

RDC

RDC

RDC

Congo

Congo

Congo

Gabon

Gabon

Gabon

Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon

Table 8: Total ecosystem carbon stocks, partitioning and carbon dioxide equivalent of Central Africa mangroves under different disturbance regimes

Disturbance Regimes

Heavily Exploited Moderately Exploited

Undisturbed

Trees Mg/ha

SE

Mg/ha

SE

Mg/ha

SE

Aboveground Live component

58.0

50.4 123.3

179.7

467.1

70.0

Dead component

6.1

3.7 16.4

18.1

70.6

85.2

Total Aboveground 64.1

49.9 139.6

181.4

537.7

116.5

As % total

7.2

4.0 14.1

16.6

35.1

4.2

Belowground Tree-roots

3.1

1.4 12.1

18.8

15.1

4.2

Total Soil

740.6

189.6 773.6

162.9

967.4

57.6

Total Belowground 743.6

190.9 785.7

149.8

982.5

60.8

As % total

92.8

4.0 85.9

16.6

64.9

4.2

T o t a l e c o s y s t e m carbon stock (Mg/ha)

807.8

235.5 925.4

137.2

1520.2

163.9

30