Spatial Variation in Organic Carbon

Density of Mangrove Soil in Indian

Sundarbans

Abhijit Mitra, Kakoli Banerjee & Saurov

Sett

National Academy Science Letters

ISSN 0250-541X
Volume 35
Number 3

Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (2012) 35:147-154

DOI 10.1007/s40009-012-0046-6

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 Author's personal copy
Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154
DOI 10.1007/s40009-012-0046-6
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Spatial Variation in Organic Carbon Density of Mangrove Soil
in Indian Sundarbans
Abhijit Mitra • Kakoli Banerjee • Saurov Sett
Received: 5 March 2012 / Accepted: 19 May 2012 / Published online: 14 June 2012
Ó The National Academy of Sciences, India 2012
Abstract Soils from intertidal mudflats of mangrove
dominated Indian Sundarbans were analyzed for soil
organic carbon, bulk density and organic carbon density
during 2009 in two different sectors: western and eastern.
Samplings were carried out at 12 stations in four different
depths (0.01–0.10, 0.10–0.20, 0.20–0.30 and 0.30–0.40 m)
through three seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-
monsoon). High organic carbon density is observed in the
stations of western Indian Sundarbans, which is relatively
close to the highly urbanized city of Kolkata, Howrah and
the newly emerging Haldia port-cum-industrial complex.
The mangrove forest in the eastern Indian Sundarbans
exhibits comparatively lower organic carbon density.
Anthropogenic activities are almost negligible in this sector
because of its location almost within the protected forest
area. The bulk density of the mangrove soil increased with
depth, while organic carbon and carbon density decreased
with depth almost in all the stations. We observed signif-
icant spatial variations in soil organic carbon and organic
carbon density in the study area.
Keywords Sundarban mangrove 
Soil organic carbon (SOC)  Bulk density 
Organic carbon density (OCD)  Spatial variation
A. Mitra (&)  S. Sett
Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta,
35 B.C. Road, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 019, India
e-mail: abhijit_mitra@hotmail.com
K. Banerjee
School for Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources,
Central University of Orissa, Landiguda, Koraput 764020, India
Introduction
Human activities have led to considerable emissions of
greenhouse gases [1]. In particular, for the period from 1980
to 1989 carbon dioxide emission from fossil-fuel burning
and tropical deforestation amounted to 7.1 billion tons of
carbon being released a year (Table 1) [2]. Increase in
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration can account for
about half of the carbon dioxide emission for this period [3].
This has led to study the capacity of carbon sequestration in
forests and other terrestrial and wetland ecosystems. Most
of the studies so far available are related to forest ecosys-
tems and crops, and there is not enough information on
carbon sequestration potential of wetland soil. Wetlands
provide several important ecosystem services, among which
soil carbon sequestration is most crucial particularly in the
backdrop of rising carbon dioxide in the present century.
Wetlands cover about 5 % of the terrestrial surface and are
important carbon sinks containing 40 % of SOC at global
level [4]. Estuarine wetlands have a capacity of carbon
sequestration per unit area of approximately one order of
magnitude greater than other systems of wetlands [5] and
store carbon with a minimum emission of greenhouse gases
due to inhibition of methanogenesis because of sulphate [6].
The reservoirs of SOC, however, can act as sources or sinks
of atmospheric carbon dioxide, depending on land use
practices, climate, texture and topography [7–10].
Vertical patterns of SOC can contribute as an input or
as an independent validation for biogeochemical models
and thus provide valuable information for examining
the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global change
[11–13]. A large number of biogeochemical models, how-
ever, do not contain explicit algorithms of below-ground
ecosystem structure and function [14]. Most of the studies
primarily focused on the topsoil carbon stock, and carbon
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148 Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154

Table 1 Anthropogenic carbon fluxes; 1980–1989 (IPCC 1994)
GtC/year
Carbon dioxide sources
Fossil-fuel burning, cement production 5.5 ± 0.5
Changes in tropical land use 1.6 ± 1.0
Total anthropogenic emission 7.1 ± 1.1
Partitioning among reservoirs
Storage in the atmosphere 3.2 ± 0.2
Oceanic uptake 2.0 ± 0.8
Uptake by northern hemisphere forest regrowth 0.5 ± 0.5
Additional terrestrial sinks: CO2 fertilization, nitrogen 1.4 ± 1.5
fertilization, climatic effects
dynamics in deeper soil layers and driving factors behind
vertical distributions of soil organic carbon remain poorly
understood [11, 15, 16]. Thus, improved knowledge of dis-
tributions and determinants of SOC across different soil
depth is essential to determine whether carbon in deep soil
layers will react to global change and accelerate the increase
in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [16, 17].
With this background the present study was undertaken to
estimate the SOC in four different depths in the mangrove
dominated Indian Sundarbans that sustains some 34 true
mangrove species and some 62 mangrove associate species
[18]. This deltaic lobe together with Bangladesh Sundarbans
constitutes the world’s largest brackish water wetland. Hence
it is essential to establish a base line data of soil carbon pool of
this mangrove ecosystem. In this study, we used our unpub-
lished data of SOC and bulk density to evaluate the spatial
variations of OCD in the intertidal mudflats of western and
eastern Indian Sundarbans that are markedly different with
respect to anthropogenic activities and mangrove vegetation.
mangrove swamps [19]. The temperature is moderate due to
its proximity to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Average
annual maximum temperature is around 35 °C. The summer
(pre-monsoon) extends from the mid of March to mid-June,
and the winter (post-monsoon) from mid-November to
February. The monsoon usually sets in around the mid of
June and lasts up to the mid of October. Rough weather with
frequent cyclonic depressions occurs during mid-March to
mid-September. Average annual rainfall is 1,920 mm.
Average humidity is about 82 % and is more or less uniform
throughout the year. This unique ecosystem is also the home
ground of Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). The
deltaic complex sustains 102 islands, 48 of which are
inhabited. The ecosystem is extremely prone to erosion,
accretion, tidal surges and several natural disasters, which
directly affect the top soil and the subsequent carbon density.
The average tidal amplitude is around 3.0 m.
We conducted survey at 12 stations in the Indian
Sundarbans region through three seasons viz. pre-monsoon
(May), monsoon (September) and post-monsoon (Decem-
ber) in 2009. Station selection was primarily based on
anthropogenic activities and mangrove floral diversity.
Because of rapid industrialization, urbanization, unplanned
tourism, navigational, pilgrimage and shrimp culture activi-
ties; the western Indian Sundarbans is a stressed zone (Stn.
1–6). On the contrary stations 7–12 (in the eastern sector)
are the areas with rich mangrove biodiversity and have been
considered as control zone in this study. The major activi-
ties influencing the carbon pool in the selected stations are
highlighted in (Table 3).
Sampling
Table 2 and Fig. 1 represent our study site in which sam-
pling plots of 10 9 5 m2 were considered for each station.

Materials and Methods Table 2 Sampling stations in western and eastern Indian Sundarbans
Station Station no. Geographical location
The Study Area
Longitude Latitude
The Sundarban mangrove ecosystem covering about one Kachuberia Stn. 1 0
88°08 04.43 00
21°520 26.5000
million ha in the deltaic complex of the Rivers Ganga, Harinbari Stn. 2 88°040 52.9800 21°470 01.3600
Brahmaputra and Meghna is shared between Bangladesh Chemaguri Stn. 3 0
88°10 07.03 00
21°390 58.1500
(62 %) and India (38 %) and is the world’s largest coastal Sagar south Stn. 4 0
88°03 06.17 00
21°380 54.3700
wetland. Enormous load of sediments carried by the rivers Lothian island Stn. 5 0
88°22 13.99 00
21°390 01.5800
contribute to its expansion and dynamics. Prentice island Stn. 6 0
88°17 10.04 00
21°420 40.9700
The Indian Sundarbans (between 21°130 N and 22°400 N Burirdabri Stn. 7 89°010 43.600 22°040 39.200
latitude and 88°030 E and 89°070 E longitude) is bordered by Sajnekhali Stn. 8 88°460 10.800 22°050 13.400
Bangladesh in the east, the Hooghly River (a continuation of
Amlamethi Stn. 9 88°440 26.700 22°030 54.200
the River Ganga) in the west, the Dampier and Hodges line in 0 00
Dobanki Stn. 10 88°45 20.6 21°590 24.400
the north, and the Bay of Bengal in the south. The important 0 00
Netidhopani Stn. 11 88°44 39.4 21°550 14.900
morphotypes of deltaic Sundarbans include beaches, mud-
Haldibari Stn. 12 88°460 44.900 21°430 01.400
flats, coastal dunes, sand flats, estuaries, creeks, inlets and

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Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154 149

Fig. 1 Map of the study region

showing the sampling stations

Fig. 2 Spatial and seasonal 1.4

pre monsoon
variation of SOC (mean of four
depths each) 1.2 monsoon

1
post monsoon
SOC%

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
88°08'04.43"E&
21°52'26.50"N

88°04'52.98"E&
21°47'01.36"N

88°10'07.03"E&
21°39'58.15"N

88°03'06.17"E&
21°38'54.37"N

88°22'13.99"E&
21°39'01.58"N

88°17'10.04"E&
21°42'40.97"N

89° 01' 43.6"E&

22°04' 39.2"N

88° 46'10.8"E&
22°05'13.4"N

88°44'26.7"E&
22°03'54.2"N

88° 45' 20.6"E&

21°59'24.4"N

88° 44' 39.4"E&

21°55'14.9"N

88° 46' 44.9"E&

21°43' 01.4"N

Care was taken to collect the samples within the same

distance from the estuarine edge, tidal creeks and the same
micro-topography. Under such conditions, spatial vari-
ability of external parameters such as tidal amplitude and
frequency of inundation [20], inputs of material from the
adjacent bay/estuary and soil granulometry and salinity
[21, 22] are minimal.
Ten cores were collected from the selected plots in each
station by inserting PVC core of known volume into the
soil to a maximum depth of 0.40 m during low tide con-
dition. Each core was sliced in 0.10 m layers up to 0.40 m
depth. The uppermost 0.01 m, which frequently includes
debris and freshly fallen litter, was not used in this study. Fig. 3 Shoreline changes of Sagar Island (Stn. 4) during 1955–1989
Each core section was placed in aluminum foil and packed showing erosion of the southern part of the island

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Table 3 Major activities influencing the SOC in Indian Sundarbans 1

0.9
Station Major activity Magnitude 0.8
0.7
Kachuberia station 1 Prawn seed collection ?? 0 to 10cm

Mangrove vegetation (5 species) ?
Passenger vessel jetties
Fish landing activities
Market related activities
Harinbari station 2 Mangrove vegetation (11
species)
Prawn seed collection
Fish landing activities
Chemaguri station 3 Mangrove vegetation (17
species)
Unorganized fishing activities
Market related activities
Sagar south station 4 Pilgrims
Tourism
Navigational channel
Erosion (sea facing)
Mangrove vegetation (11
species)
Lothian island station Biodiversity research and study ?
5 Mangrove vegetation (27
species)
Prawn seed collection
Prentice island station Mangrove vegetation (25
6 species)
Burirdabri station 7 Mangrove vegetation (17
species)
Sajnekhali station 8 Mangrove vegetation (25
species)
Tourism
Amlamethi station 9 Mangrove vegetation (24
species)
Dobanki station 10 Mangrove vegetation (24
species)
Netidhopani station 11 Mangrove vegetation (25
species)
Haldibari station 12 Mangrove vegetation (25
species)
?, ??, and ??? indicate low, medium and high magnitude
respectively for the major activities in the selected stations
in ice for transport. In the laboratory, the collected samples
were carefully sieved and homogenized to remove roots
and other plant and animal debris prior to oven-drying to
constant weight at 105 °C for bulk density determination
considering the volume of the PVC core. SOC of the col-
lected samples (n = 10) from each plot was analyzed by
standard method [23] and the mean value was considered
for determination of OCD in (kg/m2) as per the expression:
OCD ¼ % SOC  bulk density ðBDÞ  soil depth
SOC%
0.6
10 to 20cm
0.5
??? 20 to 30cm
0.4
30 to 40cm
? 0.3
?? 0.2
0.1
???
0
Western Eastern
?
? Fig. 4 Depth profile of SOC in western and eastern Indian
??? Sundarbans (mean of 3 seasons and 6 stations in each sector)
??
?? Results and Discussion
???
??? Organic Carbon
???
??? The organic carbon in soil differs significantly between sta-
??? tions. It is observed that the western Indian Sundarbans (Stn.
1–6) has an average SOC of 0.87 %, whereas in eastern
Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12), the value is 0.55 %. These
??? figures are average of three seasons and four depths. The
spatial trend of SOC follows the order Stn. 3 (1.05 %) [ Stn.
?
1 (1.01 %) [ Stn. 5 (0.84 %) [ Stn. 6 (0.81 %) [ Stn. 2
??? (0.78 %) [ Stn. 4 (0.72 %) [ Stn. 8 (0.61 %) [ Stn. 11
(0.60 %) [ Stn. 9 (0.58 %) [ Stn. 10 (0.57 %) [ Stn. 12
???
(0.50 %) [ Stn. 7 (0.44 %) (Fig. 2). The significant spatial
??? variation of SOC between western and eastern sectors
(p = 0.005428) may be attributed to a large extent by man-
??? grove diversity, anthropogenic activity, accretion and erosion
??? processes (Table 4). Anthropogenic activities like fish land-
ing, tourism, urban development and shrimp farms contribute
??? appreciable amount of organic load in stations like Kachu-
beria (Stn. 1) and Chemaguri (Stn. 3). The presence of shrimp
??? farms at Chemaguri (Stn. 3) along with 12 years old man-
grove vegetation (17 species) may be attributed to highest
???
organic carbon level in the soil core. The relatively low SOC
at Sagar South (Stn. 4) is due to its location at sea front where
wave action and tidal amplitude is maximum (*3.5 m mean
amplitude). This station experiences the freshwater discharge
from the Farakka barrage (located in the upstream zone),
which is about 40,000 cusec/day. This huge quantum of fresh
water discharge through the Hooghly channel also causes
erosion of the Sagar Island. Continuous erosion of the
southern part of this island may be the reason behind mini-
mum retention of organic matter in the intertidal zone
(Fig. 3). The variation of SOC in the Indian Sundarbans is
thus regulated through an intricate interaction of biological,
physical and anthropogenic activities (Table 3).
The factors governing variation of below-ground carbon
storage in mangrove soils is difficult to pinpoint [24, 25] as

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Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154 151

Fig. 5 Depth wise variation of

bulk density in gm/cc

1.6
bulk density in western Indian 1.4
Sundarbans 1.2
0 to 10cm
1
10 to 20cm
0.8
0.6 20 to 30cm
0.4 30 to 40cm
0.2
0

88°08'04.43"E&
21°52'26.50"N

88°04'52.98"E&
21°47'01.36"N

88°10'07.03"E&
21°39'58.15"N

88°03'06.17"E&
21°38'54.37"N

88°22'13.99"E&
21°39'01.58"N

88°17'10.04"E&
21°42'40.97"N
Fig. 6 Depth wise variation of 1.6
Bulk density in gm/cc

bulk density in eastern Indian 1.4

Sundarbans 1.2
0 to 10cm
1
10 to 20cm
0.8
20 to 30cm
0.6
0.4 30 to 40cm
0.2
0
89°01'43.6"E&
22°04' 39.2"N

88°46'10.8"E&
22°05'13.4"N

88°44'26.7"E&
22°03'54.2"N

88°45'20.6"E&
21°59'24.4"N

88°44'39.4"E&
21°55'14.9"N

88°46'44.9"E&
21°43' 01.4"N
Table 4 ANOVA for spatial variation of SOC and OCD
Source of variation SS df MS Fobs P value Fcrit

SOC
Between western and eastern sector 0.302961 1 0.302961 21.91293 0.005428 6.607891
Between stations 0.037367 5 0.007473 0.540547 0.742047 5.050329
OCD
Between Western and Eastern sector 0.607181 1 0.607181 18.1139 0.008045 6.607891
Between stations 0.108846 5 0.021769 0.649437 0.676359 5.050329

Fig. 7 Depth profile of OCD in 1.4

Carbon density in kg/sqm

western and eastern Indian

1.2
Sundarbans (mean of 3 seasons
and 6 stations in each sector) 1

0.8 western
0.6 eastern

0.4

0.2

0
0 to 10cm 10 to 20cm 20 to 30cm 30 to 40cm

it is not a simple function of measured flux rates, but also seasons in western Indian Sundarbans shows a decrease
integrates thousands of years of variable deposition, with depth (Fig. 4). Similar trend is also observed in
transformation, and erosion dynamics associated with eastern Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12) where there is
fluctuating sea levels and episodic disturbances [26]. The almost no anthropogenic impact (Fig. 4). The organic
mean value of SOC considering all the six stations and carbon levels under Rhizophora mangle soil were 2.80,

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152 Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154

carbon density in kg/sqm

Fig. 8 Spatial and seasonal
variation of OCD (mean of 4 2.5
pre monsoon
depths each) 2 monsoon
post monsoon
1.5

0.5

88°08'04.43"E&
21°52'26.50"N

88°04'52.98"E&
21°47'01.36"N

88°10'07.03"E&
21°39'58.15"N

88°03'06.17"E&
21°38'54.37"N

88°22'13.99"E&
21°39'01.58"N

88°17'10.04"E&
21°42'40.97"N

89°01'43.6"E&
22°04'39.2"N

88° 46'10.8"E&
22°05'13.4"N

88°44' 26.7"E&
22°03'54.2"N

88°45'20.6"E&
21°59'24.4"N

88°44' 39.4"E&
21°55'14.9"N

88°46' 44.9"E&
21°43' 01.4"N
Fig. 9 Comparison of our 7
study with that of others 6.5
6
Carbon density in kg/sqm

5.5
5
4.5

Khan and colaborators (2007)

Howe and colaborators (2009)

4

Brevik and Homburg (2004)

3.5
Bernal and Misch (2008)

3
Donato et al. (2011)

2.5
2
1.5

our study

our study
1
0.5
0 Okinawa, Japan
Rainforest in Ohio,

Western Indian
Estuarine oceanic

southeastern USA

Wetlands at the

Eastern Indian
Mangroves in

Sundarbans
Wetlands at the

southeastern

Sundarbans
Australia
soil

USA

2.70 and 2.70 % in the 0.01–0.05, 0.05–0.10 and exclusively contributed by mangrove vegetation (through
0.10–0.15 m depth respectively [27]. Similar decrease of litter and detritus). The stations in western Indian
SOC with depth was also observed under Avicennia soil Sundarbans are highly stressed due to intense anthropo-
[27]. Report of decreasing mangrove SOC below 1 m was genic activities. The high values of SOC in stations like
also documented in several mangrove ecosystems [28]. Chemaguri (Stn. 3) and Kachuberia (Stn. 1) are due to
Seasonal variation of SOC (pre-monsoon [ post- organic load contributed from market wastes and decom-
monsoon [ monsoon) in the present study area (Fig. 2) is posed fish wastes. Thus anthropogenic factors act as
attributable to the climatic conditions that influence the additive to increase the SOC level in the deltaic complex of
physical processes like waves, tidal amplitude and current Indian Sundarbans.
pattern. Heavy rainfall in monsoon (80 % during July–
September) coupled with high tidal amplitude (4.8–5.2 m Bulk Density
during spring tide and 2.1–2.8 m during neap tide) erode
the top soil and wash away the deposited organic matter The bulk density of mangrove soil is attributable to the
and mangrove litter to the adjacent aquatic system. relative proportion of sand, silt and clay and more specif-
It is interesting to note that SOC in western Indian ically to the specific gravity of solid organic and inorganic
Sundarbans is 57.21 % higher than the eastern sector. The particles and porosity of the soil. The compactness of
stations in the eastern Indian Sundarbans are within the mangrove soil increases with depth both in western and
Reserve forest area, with almost minimum or no anthro- eastern Indian Sundarbans due to which the bulk density
pogenic activities. The SOC in these stations is almost exhibits higher values with depths in all the stations

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(Figs. 5, 6). Basically the bulk density in the present study
area is regulated by sediment texture and deposition/
erosion which is the effect of current pattern, tidal ampli-
tude and wind action.
Organic Carbon Density
OCD being a direct function of SOC and bulk density
exhibits almost similar spatial variation to that of SOC.
The OCD differs significantly between stations and sectors.
It is observed that the western Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 1–6)
has an average OCD of 1.19 kg/m2, whereas in eastern
Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12), the value is 0.74 kg/m2.
These figures are average of three seasons and all four
depths. The spatial trend of OCD is in the order Stn. 3
(1.55 kg/m2) [ Stn. 1 (1.36 kg/m2) [ Stn. 5 (1.14 kg/m2)
[ Stn. 6 (1.09 kg/m2) [ Stn. 2 (1.03 kg/m2) [ Stn. 4
(0.99 kg/m2) [ Stn. 10 (0.84 kg/m2) [ Stn. 8 (0.83
kg/m2) [ Stn. 9 (0.79 kg/m2) [ Stn. 11 (0.73 kg/m2) [
Stn. 12 (0.66 kg/m2) [ Stn. 7 (0.61 kg/m2). The significant
spatial variation of OCD between western and eastern sec-
tors (p = 0.008045) (Table 4) may be attributed to man-
grove diversity and nature of anthropogenic activities as
mentioned in Table 3. It is observed that the OCD of western
sector is 60.26 % higher than that of the eastern sector
confirming the fact that anthropogenic factors significantly
contribute to OCD value (Fig. 7). The seasonal variation
(pre-monsoon [ post-monsoon [ monsoon) can be related
to heavy rain and high water current that washes away the
organic matter from the intertidal mudflats (Fig. 8).
We compared our carbon density data (ranging from
0.61 to 1.55 kg/m2) with several global reports published
between 2004 and 2011. OCD of 3.03, 0.033, 5.73, 6.61
and 0.38 kg/m2 were observed in rain forest of Ohio, USA
[29]; wetlands at the southeastern USA [30]; mangroves in
Okinawa, Japan [31]; wetlands at the southeastern Aus-
tralia [32] and estuarine oceanic soil [28] respectively
(Fig. 9). Even though our study area does not have highest
OCD, it neither has the least. The relatively higher OCD
value in the western sector is the effect of anthropogenic
activities, which is non-existent in the stations of eastern
sector because of their location within the protected reserve
forest.
The present study is significant from the point that the
area has not yet witnessed the light of documentation of
soil carbon content although above ground mangrove bio-
mass (AGMB) and carbon storage have been studied by
several workers [33, 34]. A thorough study has been done
on the whole-ecosystem C storage in mangroves across a
broad tract of the Indo-Pacific region, the geographic core
of mangrove area (40 % globally) and diversity and the
study sites comprised wide variation in stand composition
and stature spanning 30° of latitude (8°S–22°N), 73° of
153
longitude (90°–163°E), and including eastern Micronesia
(Kosrae); western Micronesia (Yap and Palau); Sulawesi,
Java, Borneo (Indonesia); and the Sundarbans (Ganges–
Brahmaputra Delta, Bangladesh) [28]. The study, however,
left out the lower Gangetic region sustaining the Indian
Sundarbans. The present approach is thus an attempt to fill
this gap area and establish a baseline data of SOC and OCD
in the mangrove dominated Indian part of Sundarbans.
Acknowledgments The financial assistance from the National
Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Govt. of India under the programme
ISRO-GBP/NCP/SVF is gratefully acknowledged. The infrastructural
support from the Forest Department, Govt. of West Bengal is duly
acknowledged.
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