Journal of Marine Sciences ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (1): 110-120.DOI: 10.3969-j.issn.1001-909X.2023.01.009

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Conservation gap analysis of coastal blue carbon ecosystems: Taking Guangdong and Guangxi as examples

DONG Di1,2,3(), HUANG Huamei1,4,*(), GAO Qing1,5, CHEN Mianrun1,3, YANG Xi3,6   

  1. 1. South China Sea Institute of Planning and Environmental Research, SOA, Guangzhou 510300, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Monitoring and Restoration Technologies, MNR, Shanghai 201206, China
    3. Key laboratory of Marine Environmental Survey Technology and Application, Guangzhou 510300, China
    4. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou),Guangzhou 511458, China
    5. School of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China
    6. South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center, SOA, Guangzhou 510300, China
  • Received:2022-08-30 Revised:2022-11-17 Online:2023-03-15 Published:2023-04-28

Abstract:

Mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass beds are known as the three major coastal blue carbon ecosystems (CBCEs), which play important roles in marine biodiversity maintenance, water purification, nutrient recycling, carbon sequestration and storage. Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, where the CBCEs are widely distributed, were selected as the research areas, to investigate the spatial relationship between CBCEs and the marine ecological redlines (MERs). The CBCE conservation gap was analyzed, and the recommended priority conservation areas outside the MERs were proposed. The CBCE distribution data obtained from the satellite images in 2019, combined with field survey and UAV remote sensing data collected during 2020 and 2021 showed that the CBCEs in Guangdong totaled 14 481.39 hm2 (mangroves 11 928.87 hm2, salt marshes 1 258.00 hm2, seagrass beds 1 294.52 hm2), whereas the CBCEs in Guangxi totaled 11 751.30 hm2 (mangroves 10 171.70 hm2, salt marshes 1 450.36 hm2, seagrass beds 129.24 hm2). 62.13% of the CBCEs in Guangdong and 59.88% in Guangxi were covered by the MERs. The distribution areas and protection ratios of mangroves and seagrass beds in Guangdong were both larger than those in Guangxi, while the distribution area and protection ratio of salt marshes in Guangxi were larger than that in Guangdong. As to the 3 types of CBCEs in Guangdong, 62.13% of the mangroves, 38.16% of the salt marshes and 85.41% of the seagrass beds were under protection. For the CBCEs in Guangxi, 61.44% of the mangroves, 49.58% of the salt marshes and 52.99% of the seagrass beds were protected. This research suggests the coast from Rongmujiang Bay to Maowei Sea, the areas of Tieshan Bay, Leizhou Bay, Zhelin Bay and other related locations as the recommended priority conservation areas outside the MERs.

Key words: blue carbon ecosystems, marine ecological redlines, mangrove, seagrass bed, salt marsh

CLC Number: