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Mangroves are one of the blue carbon ecosystems. However, greenhouse gas emissions from mangrove soils may reduce the capacity of carbon storage in these systems. In this study, methane (CH4) fluxes and soil properties of the top 10 cm layer were determined in subtropical (Kandelia obovata) and tropical (Avicennia marina) mangrove ecosystems of Taiwan for a complete seasonal cycle. Our results demonstrate that CH4 emissions in mangroves cannot be neglected when constructing the carbon budgets and estimating the carbon storage capacity. CH4 fluxes were significantly higher in summer than in winter in the Avicennia mangroves. However, no seasonal variation in CH4 flux was observed in the Kandelia mangroves. CH4 fluxes were significantly higher in the mangrove soils of Avicennia than in the adjoining mudflats; this trend, however, was not necessarily recapitulated at Kandelia. The results of multiple regression analyses show that soil water and organic matter content were the main factors regulating the CH4 fluxes in the Kandelia mangroves. However, none of the soil parameters assessed show a significant influence on the CH4 fluxes in the Avicennia mangroves. Since pneumatophores can transport CH4 from anaerobic deep soils, this study suggests that the pneumatophores of Avicennia marina played a more important role than soil properties in affecting soil CH4 fluxes. Our results show that different mangrove tree species and related root structures may affect greenhouse gas emissions from the soils.

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Mangrove forests are one of the important ecosystems in tropical coasts because of their high primary production, which they sustain by sequestering a substantial amount of CO2 into plant biomass. These forests often experience various levels of inundation and play an important role in CH4 emissions, but the taxonomy of methanotrophs in these systems remains poorly understood. In this study, DNA-based stable isotope probing showed significant niche differentiation in active aerobic methanotrophs in response to niche differentiation in upstream and downstream mangrove soils of the Tamsui estuary in northwestern Taiwan, in which salinity levels differ between winter and summer. Methylobacter and Methylomicrobium-like Type I methanotrophs dominated methane-oxidizing communities in the field conditions and were significantly 13C-labeled in both upstream and downstream sites, while Methylobacter were well adapted to high salinity and low temperature. The Type II methanotroph Methylocystis comprised only 10–15% of all the methane oxidizers in the upstream site but less than 5% at the downstream site under field conditions. 13C-DNA levels in Methylocystis were significantly lower than those in Type I methanotrophs, while phylogenetic analysis further revealed the presence of novel methane oxidizers that are phylogenetically distantly related to Type Ia in fresh and incubated soils at a downstream site. These results suggest that Type I methanotrophs display niche differentiation associated with environmental differences between upstream and downstream mangrove soils.

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The contribution of unvegetated tidal flats to global net primary production is comparable to that of some vegetated coastal habitats. However, compared to carbon flux regulating factors in vegetated habitats, those in unvegetated tidal flats are not well understood, particularly in terms of their cause-effect relationships. Maximum gross primary production (GPPm), net primary production (NPP) and total respiration (TR) during emersion at noon when the irradiance level was at the saturation level for photosynthesis in nine unvegetated tidal flats across the Taiwan Strait in tropical and subtropical regions were determined in winter and summer from 2011 to 2016 to examine the direct and indirect relationships between sediment characteristics and carbon fluxes by using structural equation models (SEM). Most of the GPPm and NPP values were higher in winter than in summer. Conversely, the TR values were higher in summer than in winter. The NPP values at some sites shifted to negative values in summer, indicating the sites were carbon sources. The values of GPPm, TR and NPP for the tidal flats all increased significantly with increasing sediment mud content. The SEM results showed that the sediment mud content directly increased GPPm or indirectly increased GPPm via a compositional shift in benthic microalgae. The sediment mud content also directly increased TR or indirectly increased TR via increased organic matter content. The contribution of benthic microalgal and macrofaunal biomass to TR was relatively minor. This result suggests that primary production was stimulated mainly by the organic matter content rather than by increased microalgal biomass. With the integrated SEM framework, our results showed mechanistic evidence of how sediment mud content acted as a critical factor regulating carbon fluxes in unvegetated tidal flats.

Continuous research into the availability of phosphorus (P) in forest soil is critical for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. In this study, we used sequential chemical extraction and 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-NMR) to evaluate the form and distribution of inorganic P (Pi) and organic P (Po) in Casuarina forest soils of a subtropical coastal sand dune at Houlong in Taiwan. The soil samples were collected from humic (+2-0 cm) and mineral layers (mineral-I: 0-10, mineral-II: 10-20 cm) at two topographic locations (upland and lowland) by elevation. Sequential chemical extraction revealed that the NaOH-Po fraction, as moderately recalcitrant P, was the dominant form in humic and mineral-I layers in both upland and lowland soils, whereas the cHCl-Pi fraction was the dominant form in the mineral-II layer. Resistant P content, including NaOH-Pi, HCl-Pi, cHCl-Pi, and cHCl-Po fractions, was higher in the upland than lowland in the corresponding layers; however, labile P content, NaHCO3-Po, showed the opposite pattern. Content of resistant Pi (NaOH-Pi, HCl-Pi, and cHCl-Pi) increased significantly with depth, but that of labile Pi (resin-Pi and NaHCO3-Pi) and recalcitrant Po (NaHCO3-Po, NaOH-Po, and cHCl-Po) decreased significantly with depth at both locations. 31P-NMR spectroscopy revealed inorganic orthophosphate and monoesters-P as the major forms in this area. The proportions of Pi and Po evaluated by sequential chemical extraction and 31P-NMR spectroscopy were basically consistent. The results indicated that the soils were in weathered conditions. Furthermore, the P distribution and forms significantly differed between the upland and lowland by variation in elevation and eolian aggradation effects in this coastal sand dune landscape.