Most of Kingston Harbour’s mangrove carbon is below ground
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Across sampled Kingston Harbour mangroves, belowground tree and soil pools contributed about 92% of total carbon. Mean total ecosystem carbon was 417.9 ± 17.5 Mg C/ha; using about 300 ha of mangrove, the authors estimated roughly 125,373 Mg C stored in vegetation and the top metre of soil, with strong variation among forest areas.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Urban mangrove condition cannot be read from canopy appearance alone. Soil and belowground carbon dominate this stock, reinforcing the importance of hydrology, disturbance and soil preservation in urban coastal management.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
This is a site-specific stock estimate based on sampled forests and extrapolated area, not a rate of current sequestration or proof that every urban mangrove stores similar carbon. One rehabilitated site had shallower sampled soil depth.
SOURCE
Wetlands
View original evidence ↗
A new carbon baseline for roughly 300 hectares of urban-influenced mangroves estimates 92% of total carbon in belowground tree and soil pools.
Read the Wild Lands assessment →