Journal article
Mangrove sediment carbon burial offset by methane emissions from mangrove tree stems
Nature geoscience, Vol.18(12), pp.1224-1231
12/2025
Metrics
1 Record Views
Abstract
Mangroves are recognized globally as important blue carbon ecosystems for mitigating climate change due to their remarkable carbon sequestration potential. However, methane emissions from these ecosystems can partially offset their net carbon burial capacity. Although methane oxidation within soils can minimize these emissions, the contribution of methane released directly through mangrove tree stems remains underexplored. Emerging evidence indicates that wetland trees may serve as conduits for soil-derived methane, potentially constituting a poorly quantified component of mangrove carbon cycling. Here we present a global quantification of methane emissions mediated by trees, leveraging field measurements, global datasets and machine learning-driven upscaling. Our analysis reveals that annual stem methane emissions total approximately 730.60 (95% CI: 586.09–876.93) gigagrams per year, offsetting sediment carbon burial by ~16.9%. When combined with soil methane emissions, stem fluxes increase the total methane budget, offsetting approximately 27.5% of blue carbon sequestration. Stem methane emissions were closely related to wood density, soil organic carbon content, salinity and soil methane flux, indicating that emissions originate primarily from mangrove sediments, with higher emissions correlated to lower wood density, lower salinity and greater wood water content. Our findings underscore the need to incorporate stem-mediated fluxes into blue carbon budgets and climate mitigation strategies.
Details
- Title
- Mangrove sediment carbon burial offset by methane emissions from mangrove tree stems
- Creators
- Guoming Qin - South China Botanical GardenZhe Lu - South China Botanical GardenChristian Sanders - Southern Cross UniversityJingfan Zhang - South China Botanical GardenShuchai Gan - South China Botanical GardenJinge Zhou - South China Botanical GardenXingyun Huang - South China Botanical GardenHua He - South China Botanical GardenMengxiao Yu - South China Botanical GardenHui Li - Guangdong Eco-engineering Polytechnic (Guangzhou, China)Peter I. Macreadie - RMIT UniversityFaming Wang - South China Botanical Garden
- Publication Details
- Nature geoscience, Vol.18(12), pp.1224-1231
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Grant note
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China): 42471067, U2106209
We are grateful to G. Yu, S. Ye, J. Chen and W. He for their assistance with field measurements. This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42471067 and U2106209), National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFE0113100, 2023YFF1304500, the CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research (YSBR-037), Key Special Project for Marine Environmental Security and Sustainable Development of Coral Reefs 2021-400), the MOST Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions project, the Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions (ANSO-CR-KP-2022-11), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515010946), the CAS Youth Innovation Promotion Association (2021347), the National Forestry and Grassland Administration Youth Talent Support Program (2020BJ003), Guangdong S&T Program (2022B1111230001), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (SML2024SP022, SML2024SP002), Guangdong Science and Technology Plan Project (2023B1212060046), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden (2023B1212060046), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2024A1515010722) and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023A1515110277).
- Identifiers
- 991013329886802368
- Copyright
- © 2025 Springer Nature Limited
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; National Marine Science Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article