Vegetation Structure and Carbon Stock in the Mangrove Community of Payumb Coast, Merauke Regency, Papua

Abstract

Mangrove forests in Indonesia play an important role in mitigating climate changes and providing other ecosystem services; however, their extent continues to decline. Information on mangrove community and its carbon stock, especially for Papua, is still limited. This study was conducted to describe vegetation structure and estimate carbon stock in Payumb Coast in Merauke District, Papua. There were three primary mangrove species identified, namely, Avicennia alba, Rhizophora apiculata and Sonneratia alba. Species dominance varied along a gradient of salinity and substrate perpendicular to the shoreline. A. alba is dominant in the closest zone to the shoreline (importance value 205.76%), while R. apiculata is dominant in the farthest zone (importance value 185,35). At the community level, the carbon stock in trees differed significantly between zones (p<0.05), with the highest in the zone dominated by R. apiculata. This study has provided preliminary data on carbon stock estimation at the community level; further studies should be conducted to estimate total carbon stock based on all above- and belowground components. More accurate estimations become important, as it was found that different species could contain significantly different carbon stock; thus producing variation among mangrove communities.