Mangrove Forests are Powerhouses in Storing Carbon

The Rookery Bay’s Science Nite three lecture series were focused on mangroves. For residents in Southwest Florida living at the edge of Rookery Bay’s 46,000 acres of mangrove forest, mangroves matter!

From the past two lectures, residents learned that mangroves help stabilize Florida’s coastline and prevent erosion. They also offer a slew of recreational benefits for both residents and visitors to our area and according to a recent study, each acre of mangrove generates $7,100 per year in economic value. It also protected Marco Island’s coastline during Hurricane Irma avoiding $1.2 billion in storm damages.

For Earth Day Celebration on April 22nd, presenter Zoe Shribman told the audience all the cool stuff that happens below the mangrove forest.

Did you know that mangroves are really good at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in their tissues, roots and in the soil and sediment below? According to Zoe, mangroves are part of the term called blue carbon ecosystem (wetlands, salt marshes and other coastal ecosystems) and are very efficient in storing or sequestering carbon.

This is also the last U.S. audience for Zoe as she will soon be departing for Singapore for her Ph.D. program to study mangroves and blue carbon in Southeast Asia. She has been studying mangroves for almost ten years.

What are carbons? Going back to our high school chemistry, carbon is the second most abundant element in the human body accounting for about 18% of our body mass. It is the foundation for all life on Earth. It is also found in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). It acts like a warm blanket helping regulate the Earth’s temperature and makes life possible.

Too much carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gasses” in the atmosphere can trap heat and contribute to climate change.

Mangroves are an incredible ecosystem that can remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These ecosystems are often referred to as carbon sinks, and according to mangrove scientists, they are responsible for 50 to 70% of carbon sequestration – which is very remarkable.

All forests capture and store carbon but mangrove forests do it better than forests on land. According to Zoe, mangroves can store about five times more carbon due to the soil beneath mangrove trees. Inland forests store most of their carbon in leaves and roots while mangroves keep as much as 60% in their soil.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air to produce sugars. As they grow, plants store the carbon in their leaves, branches, trunks, roots and even into the soil. One study showed that an acre of mangrove forest stores about 1,450 pounds of carbon dioxide per year!

From the previous lecture we learned that mangroves are deforested for many reasons – such as coastal development, for wood, for aquaculture or shrimp ponds in Southeast Asia and closer to home – a poorly installed roadway on San Marco Road.

Question your shrimp – according to Zoe, this is one way you can help. Shrimp farming in Southeast Asia is also increasing the disappearance of the mangrove forest. Shrimp is now the most popular type of seafood but wait – did you realize that the tropically farmed shrimp you eat comes from aquaculture ponds and destroys mangroves in Southeast Asia? We all love shrimp on our plates but at what ecological price?

According to Zoe, it is well known that shrimp ponds are increasingly dominating the landscape and displacing mangrove forests. As consumers there are sustainable alternatives where mangrove forests are protected and still provide livelihoods to local farmers.

Parting words from Zoe - support your local eco-tourism and also have conversation with your family and friends about mangroves and volunteer at Rookery Bay.

Good luck to Zoe Shribman as she goes off to study mangroves in Singapore and complete her PhD degree. We hope you’ll come back to share your exciting findings on mangrove forests in Southeast Asia.