Above- and below-ground biomass, and allometry, of four common northern Australian mangroves
B. W. T. Comley A B and K. A. McGuinness A CA Faculty of Education, Health and Science, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia.
B Present address: Environmental Assessment, Gold Coast City Council, PO Box 5042, GCMC 9729, Nerang, Qld 4211, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: keith.mcguinness@cdu.edu.au
Australian Journal of Botany 53(5) 431-436 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT04162
Submitted: 6 October 2004 Accepted: 22 April 2005 Published: 11 August 2005
Abstract
Mangrove forests are an integral part of tropical coastal ecosystems, particularly in northern Australia. In the Northern Territory, studies have determined the extent and species diversity of these associations but little is known of biomass or productivity. We sampled the above- and below-ground biomass of the four most abundant species, Avicennia marina, Bruguiera exaristata, Ceriops australis and Rhizophora stylosa, developed allometric relationships and examined partitioning. Unlike many other studies, we sampled below-ground biomass, which constituted a substantial proportion (0.29–0.57) of the total dry weight. Our results should be valuable in modelling potential changes in carbon allocation resulting from small- and large-scale ecosystem changes.
Acknowledgments
This paper reports work which forms part of an MSc Thesis submitted by the first author to the Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University). We thank the Northern Territory Government, Department of Lands, Planning & Environment (now Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Environment) for financial support. We also thank the many individuals who provided advice or assistance in the field and two referees for comments which improved the manuscript.
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