Project description
How mangroves respond to global warming
The world’s vegetation together – shrubs, vines and trees, plants and soils –absorbs an estimated 30 % of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Mangroves’ share is disproportionally high as they have up to 10 times higher burial rates than terrestrial forests. However, it remains unclear whether mangroves will continue to store carbon and absorb CO2 emissions at the same rate or become a net source of CO2 under global warming. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MangC project will use an innovative combination of mesocosm experiments coupled with isotopic analysis to track the carbon decay in mangrove soils under warming. The aim is to shed light on the mangrove carbon stocks and sink capacity response.
Objective
The world’s vegetation acts as a large carbon sink, absorbing ~30% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Ecosystems at the interface of terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems – including mangroves – have been little studied. Yet, mangroves contribute disproportionally to this sink capacity relative to their aerial extent, as they have up to ten times higher burial rates than terrestrial forests. Under global warming, it is nevertheless unclear whether mangroves will continue to store carbon and absorb CO2 emissions at the same rate or become a net source of CO2. This is because higher temperature may accelerate soil biogeochemical processes. Here, I will track the carbon decay in mangrove soils under warmings using a novel combination of mesocosm experiments coupled with isotopic analysis. The results will provide the first quantification of soil organic matter (SOM) decay under global warming scenarios in mangroves (research objective 1-RO1), reveal its underlying mechanisms (RO2) and potential feedback loop with vegetation (RO3). This will be a step-change in understanding how mangrove carbon stocks and sink capacity will respond to global warming.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
75006 Paris
France