C Stock of Top Soil and It Spatial Distribution in Mangrove Community of Trimulyo, Semarang City

Abstract

Mangrove ecosystem plays important role as carbon sink, not only on mangrove community but also on the top soil. The purposes of this research were 1) to estimates and compare C-stocks in vegetation and non-vegetation mangrove soils (represented by aquaculture ponds and mudflats); 2) modeling the spatial distribution of soil C-stocks in the study area. The purposive sampling method was used to determine 16 sample plots representing vegetation and non-vegetation mangroves. In each plot, the soil samples were taken on top soil layer (0-10 cm). For general display of spatial distribution maps of soil C-stocks, spatial interpolation is used by the Ordinary Kriging method. The result showed that total of soil C-stocks in coastal area of Trimulyo was 148.53 MgC ha-1, with composition of 53.59% in mangrove vegetation, 38.82% and 7.57% in cultivation pond and mudflat, respectively. Statistical analysis with ANOVA test showed no significant difference (ρ = 0.972) between soil C stock in vegetation and non-vegetation mangrove. It shows that the water column on the coast of Trimulyo has great potential as a carbon store.