Mangrove degradation and response to anthropogenic disturbance in the Maowei Sea (SW China) since 1926 AD: Mangrove-derived OM and pollen

Mangrove forests, located at the interface between land and sea, have been impacted by an increase in intensive anthropogenic disturbance in developing countries or regions. In order to study the impact of human activity on mangrove forests, mangrove development was reconstructed over the last 130 yr, using the contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter (OM) and mangrove pollen as proxies, from two sediment cores from the Maowei Sea (SW China). It is a semi-enclosed bay that receives a large amount of terrestrial material from the Qinjiang and Maoling rivers, with average sedimentation rate of 0.63-0.64 cm/yr. The material accumulates mainly in the coast and its adjacent region, owing to weak water exchange through the channel. Sediment samples had C:N and δ13Corg values intermediate between mangrove leaves and flood plain sediments, indicating that OM sources could be apportioned as a mixture from only these two sources. Based on k-mean cluster analysis, mangrove development was divided into three stages since 1880 AD: (i) a flourishing period (1880-1926 AD), (ii) a phase of slow degradation (1926-1980 AD) and (iii) a time of rapid degradation (1980 AD to the present). The study indicates that anthropogenic activity, including reclamation of mangrove swamps for farmland and shrimp ponds, is the primary reason for mangrove degradation since 1926 AD, rather than climate change (temperature and precipitation).