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Climate Change and Mangroves: A Potential Source of Carbon Sequestration

in the Indus Deltaic Region

Conference Paper · March 2023

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Proc. Pakistan Congr. Zool., 41, pp 25-28, 2023.

Climate Change and Mangroves: A Potential

Source of Carbon Sequestration in the Indus
Deltaic Region
Shahid Amjad1* and Irfan Lal2
Article Information
1
Environment and Energy Management, Institute of Business Management (IoBM) The article was presented in 41st
Karachi Pakistan Congress of Zoology
(International) held on 16-18th
2
Department of Economics, Institute of Business Management (IoBM) Karachi March 2023, organized by Institute
of Zoology, University of the Punjab,
Lahore Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
Authors’ Contribution
This study highlights the importance of mangrove forests in the Indus Delta region of Pakistan, SA contributed by collecting primary
specifically within the administrative control of Port Qasim Authority (PQA). Mangroves are crucial data from the field and wrote the
manuscript. IL checked data and
for carbon sequestration and storage, and the degradation of mangrove ecosystems can threaten the
performed statistical analysis of data
livelihoods of coastal communities by destabilizing economic potential. The study found that the carbon using SPSS software.
biomass content of mangrove trees in PQA was estimated to be 33.79 tons/ha, and that there is a positive
correlation between mangrove tree heights and carbon dioxide sequestration and tree diameter in well- Key words
established Avicenna marina trees. The study also found significant differences in tree heights observed Carbon sequestration, Indus Delta,
at seven locations in PQA, highlighting the need for sustainable management and conservation efforts. Mangrove ecosystem
The benefits of mangrove conservation include increased carbon sequestration, improved air and water
quality, enhanced coastal protection, increased availability of ecosystem services, and improved land use
decisions.

INTRODUCTION the nutrient budget. Coastal and marine resources, including

mangroves, offer numerous products and services that

T he administrative control of the Port Qasim Authority

(PQA) extends over 64,000 ha of mangrove forests of
the Indus Delta, mud flats, and creeks, with 4,900 ha of
benefit national economic growth and development. These
ecosystems support biological diversity, regulate local
climate, recycle essential nutrients, absorb and break down
land area above the high water mark (+3.4m. Engro Vopak pollutants, and mitigate the impacts of storm surges. Any
Report), ESIA (2014). Industrial zones and port areas significant perturbation or change in the ecological balance
make up the primary land use in the vicinity of the site. of established mangroves communities would destabilize
Due to the decreased amount of nutrients available in the species diversity and reduce the flow of energy. Coastal
estuaries and creeks that connect to the sea, the growth areas are of significant economic value. However, people
of mangroves, which is essential to the largest single living in coastal areas tend to use mangrove resources
mangrove ecosystem in tropical coastal environments, is unsustainably by clearing trees for fuel and fodder, causing
not as supported as it used to be. The Indus Delta mangrove a reduction in coastal ecosystem productivity that can no
ecosystem historically had eight mangrove species, longer support their livelihoods. Consequently, these
with Avicenna marina being the dominant species as of coastal communities often migrate in large numbers to
today. Mangroves are essential in adjacent coastal waters, cities, increasing the pressure on the urban environment.
providing high biological productivity that contributes to
MATERIALS AND METHODS

* Corresponding author: [email protected] Study area

0030-9923/2023/0001-0025 $ 9.00/0 The study area for carbon mangrove sequestration
was located within the Port Qasim Authority, which
comprises of three major creek systems: The Gharo Phitti
Copyright 2023 by the authors. Licensee Zoological Society of Creek System consisting of Gharo Creek, Kadiro Creek,
Pakistan. and Phitti Creek. The creek system spans 28 km in length
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms
and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) and has a width ranging from 250 to 2,500 m. It is situated
license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 22.3 km from Karachi and runs from Gharo Creek at the
26 S. Amjad and I. Lal

north-eastern end to Phitti Creek at the south-western end, For the mangroves in the PQA study area, the carbon
with the Korangi and Kadiro Creeks connected to it at the biomass content was estimated by measuring the tree
north-eastern end, while it serves as the primary waterway diameter and height, and applying a biomass equation
connected to the open sea at the south-western end. The specific to mangroves. This provides an estimate of the
study area includes approximately 4,900 ha of land above carbon sequestration potential of the mangroves in the area.
the high water line and 64,000 ha of mangrove forests, It is important to note that these are rough estimates and
mud flats, and creeks (Fig. 1). actual carbon sequestration rates can vary based on factors
such as species, climate, and management practices.

RESULTS

Regression analysis was conducted on mangrove tree

heights, diameter, and carbon sequestered as tree biomass.
Results of the analysis showed that diameter and height
have a significant impact on carbon dioxide sequestered
per year in kg. The coefficients of diameter and height show
the increase in carbon dioxide sequestered on average per
year with a one cm diameter and one-foot height increase,
respectively.
The dependent variable is the amount of carbon
Fig. 1. Geographical location and study area, South of Ka-
rachi Port Qasim, part of the Indus Delta, Sindh.
dioxide sequestered per year, while the independent
variables are the height and diameter of the mangrove
Mangrove carbon sequestration trees. The analysis was based on 35 observations, with
Mangroves are a unique tropical ecosystem that five observations taken at each of the seven-sampling
grows extensively along protected coasts with muddy location. The coefficients of diameter (β) and height (λ)
to sandy bottoms covered by tidal fluxes. Mangrove indicate the effect of each variable on the carbon dioxide
ecosystems are large and dynamic reservoir of carbon, sequestered per year in kilograms, while the t-value
which is an important part of global carbon cycle and a reflects the significance of these coefficients. The R-square
potential sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Matsui et value measures the goodness of fit of the model, while
al., 2010). Mangroves store large quantities of organic the P-value indicates the significance of the model. The
carbon. Very few studies have been conducted on the formula for carbon dioxide sequestration in kilograms per
biomass carbon content of mangroves species Avicenna year is given by α + β Diameter + λ Height + µ, where β
marina (Pandey and Pandey 2013). They differ from forest represents the coefficient of diameter, which indicates the
ecosystems because they receive large inputs of organic average increase or decrease in carbon dioxide sequestered
matter and energy from both land and sea, making them per year in kilograms resulting from a one-centimeter
a large and dynamic reservoir of carbon. Carbon cycling increase in tree diameter. Similarly, λ represents the
and storage in mangrove forests have been evaluated, and coefficient of height, which indicates the average increase
some species have been studied for their biomass carbon or decrease in carbon dioxide sequestered per year in
content. kilograms resulting from a one-foot increase in tree height.
Carbon cycling and storage in mangrove forests has The results of the regression analysis on the relationship
been evaluated by Alongi (2014). To estimate the amount between carbon sequestration, tree height, and diameter in
of CO2 sequestered by trees, a process is used that involves the PQA mangrove ecosystem are presented in Table I.
determining the total weight, dry weight, weight of carbon, Based on our findings, an increase of 1 cm in
weight of carbon dioxide sequestered, and weight of CO2 diameter of mangrove trees corresponds to an average
sequestered per year (To determine the weight of carbon increase of approximately 0.84 kg of carbon sequestered
dioxide sequestered in the tree, multiply the weight of per year, while an increase of 1 meter in mangrove height
carbon in the tree by 3.67 the ratio of the molecular weights corresponds to an average increase of approximately 6.99
of CO2 to C). This gives the amount of CO2 sequestered in kg of carbon sequestered per year in the PQA study area
the tree. To determine the weight of CO2 sequestered in the of the Indus Delta.
tree per year, divide the amount of CO2 sequestered by the Our ANOVA results show a significant difference (p
age of the tree Scott DeWald et al. (2005). < 0.05) in the heights of Avicenna marina mangrove trees
observed at seven locations in PQA (Table II).
27 Climate Change and Mangroves: A Potential Source of Carbon Sequestration 27

Table I. Result of regression analysis CO2 sequestered

as carbon biomass at the sampling locations in PQA
(5% significance level).

Observation Dependent variable is carbon dioxide

area sequestered per year
Coefficient Coefficient R P
of diameter of height square value
β t-value λ t-value 0.92 0.00
For total area 0.84 3 6.99 5.77 0.99 0.00
EC1 1.19 4.3 6.97 3.98 0.99 0.00
EC2 0.62 4 0.45 1.58 0.99 0.00
EC3 0.52 11 0.17 2.2 0.99 0.00 Fig. 3. Mangrove tree diameter and CO2 sequestered.
EC4 2.27 1.03 2.81 0.34 0.99 0.00 There is a positive correlation between mangrove tree
heights and Carbon dioxide sequestered (R2 = 0.903) and
EC5 1.4 11 5.78 3.1 0.99 0.00 tree diameter (R2 = 0.848) in well-established mangrove
EC6 0.68 1.4 7.58 3.8 0.95 0.00 trees.
EC7 3.97 47 4.58 29 0.99 0.00
DISCUSSION
Table II. ANOVA mangrove tree heights observations
taken from 7 different locations in PQA. The study highlights the importance of mangrove
conservation, replanting, and sustainable management for
the local communities in the PQA area. Overexploitation
Sum of df Mean F Sig.
of mangrove forests for wood resources has been a major
squares square
issue, and this program aims to mitigate the damage caused
Between groups 48.407 6 8.068 8.566 0.000 by it. Mangroves are biologically productive and provide
Within groups 26.372 28 0.942 nutrients to the adjacent coastal waters, thereby increasing
Total 74.779 34 the potential for fisheries yield. The overall Productivity
in the mangrove areas is reported to be high (365-780gC/
Figures 2 and 3 show a positive linear regression m2/year, IOC, 1994), which accounts for greater potential
between mangrove tree heights and CO2 sequestered and for fisheries yield in the PQA (64,000ha) mangrove area
mangrove diameter and CO2 sequestered. (Amjad et al. 2016). They export organic matter, mainly in
detritus form (leaf litter) to the marine environment, thus
providing a highly nutritious food source for themselves
and for animals found in the mangrove areas, as well as
for those in neighboring estuarine and marine ecosystems.
(Snedaker, 1984). Coastal communities benefits in a
multitude of ways from Mangrove ecosystems. These
ecological functions are collectively known as ecosystem
services and are essential for the provisioning of food and
services, decomposition of organic wastes, and supporting
the growth of mangroves and aquatic life. Mangroves are
a unique tropical ecosystem that grows extensively along
protected coasts with muddy to sandy bottoms covered by
tidal fluxes. They differ from forest ecosystems because
they receive large inputs of organic matter and energy
from both land and sea, making them a large and dynamic
reservoir of carbon. Carbon cycling and storage in
Fig. 2. Positive linear regression between mangrove tree mangrove forests have been evaluated, and some species
heights and CO2 Sequestered. have been studied for their biomass carbon content.
Mangrove conservation efforts are crucial for carbon
 28 S. Amjad and I. Lal

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reduced carbon stores. The study highlights the potential marine-010213-135020
for carbon sequestration through rehabilitation activities Amjad, S., Mirza, M.A.R., and Baig, A., 2016.
such as reforestation, which can be achieved through Mangrove ecosystem services: Indus Delta (PQA).
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(ICSR). The benefits of mangrove conservation include org/10.4236/gep.2016.47020
increased carbon dioxide sequestration, improved air and Engro Vopak Environmental Social Impact Assessment
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and storm surge, increased abundance and diversity of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
intensively managed shrimp pond. Wetland Ecol.
Manag., 18: 233-242. https://doi.org/10.1007/
The authors acknowledge the support and assistance
s11273-009-9162-6
of Mangrove for the Future (MFF) Karachi and IoBM
Pandey, C.N. and Pandey, R., 2013. Carbon sequestration
(ORIC) for their continued support.
in mangroves of Gujarat, India. Int. J. Bot. Res., 3:
Funding 57-70. https://doi.org/10.5539/jps.v3n1p35
The current study is a part of the MFF grant project Scott DeWald, Scott, J. and Becky, E., 2005. Heating
on Valuation of Mangroves in PQA Indus Delta: An with wood: Producing, harvesting and processing
Econometric Approach. firewood, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural
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The authors have declared no conflict of interest. Snedaker, S.C., 1984. Mangroves: A summary of
knowledge with emphasis on Pakistan. In: Marine
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