Sains Malaysiana 46(9)(2017): 1441–1447

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2017-4609-12

 

Carbon Content in Different Seagrass Species in Andaman Coast of Thailand

(Kandungan Karbon dalam Pelbagai Spesies Rumpai Laut di Teluk Andaman, Thailand)

 

MILICA STANKOVIC^1*, JANMANEE PANYAWAI¹, KAMARUDIN JANSANIT², TIPAMAT UPANOI³ & ANCHANA PRATHEP¹

 

¹Seaweed and Seagrass Research Unit Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University

90110 Hat Yai, Thailand

 

²Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center, The Andaman Coast, Thailand

 

³Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center, The Middle Gulf of Thailand, Thailand

 

Received: 31 August 2016/Accepted: 17 January 2017

 

ABSTRACT

Seagrass meadows have one of the highest carbon sequestration and storage capacities than any other ecosystems. Carbon that is stored in the ecosystem is accumulated in the deposited sediment as well as in the living, above and below ground biomass, with a different rate of carbon sequestration and storage between the species. The objective of this research was to investigate carbon storage in the living plants and in the sediment among species of different size in tropical waters. The samples were collected from Phuket province, Thailand, in the high density monospecific patches of different size species (Enhalus acoroides as a big, Thalassia hemprhicii as a medium and Halophila ovalis as a small size species). Total carbon and carbon stored in above and below ground, was significantly different between the species (p<0.05), with the highest values in below ground parts of E. acoroides and T. hemprichii 238.10±85.07 and 134±21.55 g Dw m-2, respectively. Average organic carbon in the sediment was significantly different (p<0.05) as well, with E. acoroides having highest organic carbon content in the deeper layers of the sediment 1.14±0.25 % Corg, while the other two species had higher organic carbon in the top and medium layers of sediment. The results of this preliminary research propose that big size species have higher carbon content than smaller species, which reflects in higher sequestration rates of carbon from the ocean, thus reducing the ocean carbon budget. Moreover, it provides necessary information on size of the species which is the key for the future carbon storage studies in the region.

 

Keywords: Above ground; below ground; organic carbon; seagrass; sediment

 

ABSTRAK

Padang rumpai laut mempunyai keupayaan menyerap karbon dan kapasiti simpanan antara yang tertinggi berbanding ekosistem yang lain. Karbon yang disimpan di dalam ekosistem yang terkumpul di dalam sedimen didepositkan di dalam kehidupan, atas dan bawah tanah biojisim, dengan kadar penyerapan dan simpanan karbon yang berbeza antara spesies. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji penyimpanan karbon dalam tumbuh-tumbuhan dan sedimen antara spesies berbeza saiz di perairan tropika. Sampel kajian telah dikumpul dari daerah Phuket, Thailand, dalam tompok monospesifik berkepadatan tinggi spesies dengan saiz yang berbeza (Enhalus acoroides Thalassia hemprhicii yang besar, sebagai medium serta Halophila ovalis sebagai satu spesies saiz kecil). Jumlah karbon dan karbon yang disimpan di atas dan bawah tanah, adalah berbeza antara spesies (p<0.05), dengan nilai tertinggi di bawah bahagian tanah E. acoroides dan T. hemprichii 238.10±85.07 dan 134±21.55 g Dw m-2 , masing-masing. Purata karbon organik dalam sedimen adalah berbeza secara signifikan (p<0.05) dengan E. acoroides mempunyai karbon organik yang tertinggi di lapisan sedimen lebih dalam 1.14±0.25% Corg, manakala kedua-dua spesies lain mempunyai karbon organik yang lebih tinggi di lapisan atas dan sederhana enapan. Hasil kajian awal ini mencadangkan bahawa spesies saiz besar mempunyai kandungan karbon lebih tinggi daripada spesies yang lebih kecil, yang mencerminkan meningkatnya kadar penyerapan karbon dari laut, dengan itu mengurangkan bajet karbon lautan. Selain itu, ia menyediakan maklumat yang diperlukan mengenai saiz spesies yang merupakan kunci bagi kajian menyimpan karbon pada masa hadapan di rantau ini.

 

Kata kunci: Atas permukaan tanah; bawah permukaan tanah; enapan; karbon organik; rumpai laut

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*Corresponding author; email: svesemenja@gmail.com