The Sediment Carbon Stock in Aquatic Ecosystems: Mitigating Climate Change

The wetland ecosystem significantly contributes to mitigating climate change by storing carbon amounts. However, the peatland burned, conversion of wetlands to agriculture, and settlement has reduced the carbon emission by up to 50% of the total Indonesian emission. Therefore, research on carbon stock estimation in tropical aquatic ecosystems is crucial to provide a database as a reference for wetlands management. Freshwater wetland (Lake Maninjau, Sumatra) and estuarine wetland (mangrove Pasarbanggi, Rembang, Central Java) had been compared to their capability of restoring carbon. In Maninjau lakeside, the average of sediment organic carbon (SOC) stock is 105.07 Mg C ha−1. The SOC stocks tend to be lower in locations with intensive agricultural and settlements than in forest areas. Comparing to the mangrove ecosystem, particularly in Pasarbanggi Rembang has the average SOC stock of 259.12 Mg C ha−1, contributed 36.21%–78.19% of the total carbon stock. Vegetation cover plays an important role in the SOC stock. The restoration and conservation of wetlands are crucial for maintaining the sustainability of the aquatic ecosystem. Preserving and protecting wetlands might support global climate change mitigation through sequestration processes that can reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere.