Re-establishment of the Blue Carbon content in mangrove soils under restoration

• Grant number: 16/00361-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2016
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Tiago Osório Ferreira
• Grantee: Tatiana Scacco Pereira
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The mangroves are ecosystems found in almost all the Brazilian coast, playing many functions and ecologic services, besides having economic and social importance. Despite their small expression in global territory, the mangroves together with the others coastal wetlands (seagrasses and everglades) play a significant role in C storage, mainly in their soils. The recent recognition of the relevance of these ecosystems in C sequestration led to the creation of the term blue carbon skins, related to stocks presents in these areas. The concern with the C global cycle, the greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs) and their possible impacts in global climate lead researchers and public agencies to search for politics that aim the mitigation of concentration of GHGs in atmosphere. Therefore, the mangroves reveal themselves as a key piece for CO2 mitigation in atmosphere. In this way, this project aim to quantify the C stocks in mangroves soils under recovery processes, located in two compartments of the Brazilian coast (Semi Arid Northeast Coast and Granitic South Coast). In these areas, the C stocks will be quantified and the values evaluated depending on the time of re-planting, comparing it with the values obtained in preserved woods. In addition, the evolution of Fe and S speciation will be evaluated for a better understanding of the processes related to C accumulation in these soils. The samples in each of estuaries will be analyzed for determination of granulometry; pH; Eh; electric conductivity; total organic C and Fe fractions. The results of this project will be used to evaluate the dynamics of these soils and the recovery viability of mangroves with a view to C sequestration.