Methane oxidation minimizes emissions and offsets to carbon burial in mangroves

Luiz C. Cotovicz (), Gwenaël Abril, Christian J. Sanders, Douglas R. Tait, Damien T. Maher, James Z. Sippo, Ceylena Holloway, Yvonne Y. Y. Yau and Isaac R. Santos
Additional contact information
Luiz C. Cotovicz: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research
Gwenaël Abril: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA
Christian J. Sanders: Southern Cross University
Douglas R. Tait: Southern Cross University
Damien T. Maher: Southern Cross University
James Z. Sippo: Southern Cross University
Ceylena Holloway: Southern Cross University
Yvonne Y. Y. Yau: University of Gothenburg
Isaac R. Santos: Southern Cross University

Nature Climate Change, 2024, vol. 14, issue 3, 275-281

Abstract: Abstract Maximizing carbon sequestration in mangroves is part of the global effort to combat the climate crisis. However, methane (CH4) emissions can partially offset carbon sequestration in mangroves. Previous estimates have suggested that CH4 emissions offset organic carbon burial by 20% in mangroves with substantial freshwater inputs and/or in highly impacted mangroves. Here we resolve the magnitude and drivers of the mangrove CH4 offset using multiple isotopic tracers across a latitudinal gradient. CH4 emission offsets were smaller in high-salinity (~7%) than in freshwater-influenced (~27%) mangroves. Carbon sequestration was disproportionally high compared with CH4 emissions in understudied tropical areas. Low CH4 emissions were explained by minor freshwater inputs minimizing CH4 production in saline, high-sulfate conditions and intense CH4 oxidation in porewaters and surface waters. CH4 oxidation in mangrove surface waters reduced potential aquatic CH4 emissions by 10–33%. Overall, carbon sequestration through mangrove preservation and restoration is less affected by CH4 emissions than previously thought.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-01927-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcli:v:14:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1038_s41558-024-01927-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nclimate/

DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-01927-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Climate Change is currently edited by Bronwyn Wake

More articles in Nature Climate Change from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().