Skip to content
Ecological Intelligence

Ecological evidence.
Independent perspective.
Explore Wild Lands ↗

Ecological Intelligence / Subject

chronosequence

Mangrove carbon increased along a seaward chronosequence—but total-stock differences were not statistically clear

Evidence
Peer-reviewed chronosequence field study
Geography
Southern China
System
Seaward-expanding mangrove forest

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Across a seaward-expanding mangrove chronosequence, mean ecosystem carbon stocks increased from younger to older stands, while depth profiles and labile carbon fractions also shifted. The reported total carbon-stock differences among age classes, however, were not statistically significant.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Carbon accumulation can change internally before a headline stock estimate separates cleanly among stand ages. Monitoring only total carbon may miss changes in where carbon is stored and how stable or labile those pools are.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Chronosequences substitute space for time, and the work represents one mangrove setting. Sample size and local sediment dynamics limit generalization; higher mean carbon in older stands is not evidence that every planted or expanding mangrove will follow the same trajectory.

SOURCE

Fundamental Research
View original evidence ↗

A southern China chronosequence showed older mangrove stands with higher mean carbon stocks and changing carbon fractions, while total-stock differences among ages remained statistically uncertain.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →
Peer-reviewed

Forest carbon can recover on a similar trajectory while the ecosystem underneath takes a different path

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
China
System
Subalpine secondary and planted forests

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers compared secondary and planted subalpine forests across a recovery chronosequence, separating total above-ground tree carbon into ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) components and testing stand structure, functional composition and soil variables. Total tree carbon and EcM-associated carbon increased with recovery stage in both strategies, with no significant strategy-by-stage interaction for either; AM-associated carbon did show a significant interaction. Secondary forests were more strongly associated with mycorrhizal dominance and functional reassembly, while planted forests were more strongly associated with stand structure and soil conditions.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

The useful result is the null as much as the difference: two restoration approaches can converge on a similar headline carbon trajectory while rebuilding different ecological machinery. Carbon stock alone can therefore hide differences in composition, structure and belowground relationships that may matter for durability and future function.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

This is a chronosequence and structural-equation analysis rather than a randomized restoration experiment, so inferred pathways remain observational. The findings concern above-ground tree carbon in one subalpine forest context and do not establish that secondary and planted forests are equivalent across biodiversity, soil carbon or long-term resilience.

SOURCE

Journal of Applied Ecology · Original evidence
View original evidence ↗

A subalpine forest chronosequence found similar total above-ground carbon recovery in secondary and planted forests, but the mycorrhizal, structural and soil pathways behind that recovery differed.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →
Peer-reviewed

Mangrove carbon did not increase in one simple line with stand age

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
Coastal islands, Bangladesh
System
Afforested mangrove plantations

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Across five stand ages from 12 to 44 years on six coastal islands, Sonneratia apetala plantations showed highest vegetation and total ecosystem carbon density in the oldest stands, while soil organic carbon followed a unimodal pattern and peaked in 26-year-old stands. Older stands also shifted more belowground carbon into deeper soil layers.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Blue-carbon trajectories depend on which carbon pool and soil depth are measured. A single age–carbon curve can therefore hide redistribution among vegetation and soil pools, which matters for monitoring protocols and claims about restoration performance.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

This is a chronosequence rather than repeated long-term measurement of the same stands, and it focuses on one planted mangrove species. Carbon storage alone does not establish biodiversity recovery or broader restoration success.

SOURCE

Environmental Research · Original evidence
View original evidence ↗

Across six Bangladeshi islands, vegetation and whole-ecosystem carbon kept building while soil organic carbon peaked at an intermediate plantation age.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →

Keep exploring

Follow the systems. Find the connections.

WildlifeLandWaterOceansClimateCitiesOne HealthGovernanceMethods / Monitoring
Browse the archive →