ESTIMATION METHODS FOR CARBON STOCKS IN COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract

The coastal ecosystem carbon pool estimation method of the invention belongs to the field of environmental assessment, and includes the following steps: (a) determining the spatial boundary of the coastal ecosystem; (b) determining the dominant plant classification area of the coastal ecosystem; (c) calculating the carbon source of the freshwater plant dominant area; (d) size setting of carbon source sampling point in coastal ecosystem; (e) sampling method of carbon source sampling point in coastal ecosystem; (f) carbon source estimation method in coastal ecosystem. The beneficial effects of the invention are as follows: a new method for classifying vegetation areas in coastal ecosystems by using dominant species is proposed, which reduces the difficulty of sampling and simplifies sampling steps; proposes a boundary division method for water body communication and carbon source calculation The method effectively fills the gap of the carbon source survey method in the estuary area; the proposed specific carbon source calculation method for tall shrubs and trees greatly reduces the difficulty and workload of the survey.

Claims

1. A method for estimating carbon pools in coastal ecosystems comprising the following steps: (a) spatial boundary determination of coastal ecosystems; (a1) for non-estuarine areas: take the intertidal zone as the core area, extend to the lowest tide level in history in the sea, and extend to the shore to the extent that the soil salinity is lower than 5% of the sea water salinity; (a2) for the estuary area: also consider the space between the intertidal zone and the riparian zone; specifically, for the longitudinal length of the estuary, the width of the intertidal zone plus 2 times the width of the riparian zone is used, and for the lateral distance of the estuary involved in the calculation, 2 times the riparian zone width is used; the above-mentioned riparian zone width refers to the width between the highest water level and the lowest water level of the river; (b) determination of dominant plant taxonomic areas in coastal ecosystems; (c) calculation of carbon sources in freshwater plant dominant areas; (d) size setting of carbon source sampling points in coastal ecosystems; (e) sampling methods for carbon source sampling points in coastal ecosystems; and (f) Carbon Source Estimation Methods for Coastal Ecosystems.

2. The method for estimating carbon pools in coastal ecosystems according to claim 1, wherein, in the step (b), the dominant plant classification area of the coastal ecosystems is determined, and the plant species in the coastal ecosystems are divided into: tall shrubs, coastal trees, tidal salts, wherein there are three types of plants: marsh and seagrass beds, and all other plants are classified into these three types; wherein when the height of shrubs or trees in coastal ecosystems exceeds 1.2 m, they are classified as coastal trees; those below 1.2 m and above 0.1 m belong to the tidal salt marsh type, and those below 0.1 m belong to the seagrass bed plant type; in the absence of other data support, the carbon dioxide equivalent of coastal trees is 0.01415/m.sup.2, the CO.sub.2 equivalent of tidal salt marshes is 0.00935/m.sup.2 and that of seagrass beds is 0.00396/m.sup.2; and wherein if the estimated coastal ecosystem includes an estuary area, it is separately divided into a plant-dominant area, which is called a freshwater plant-dominant area because its main carbon source is the carbon source of river sediments.

3. The method for estimating carbon pools in coastal ecosystems according to claim 1, wherein, in step (c), the specific method for calculating the carbon source in the freshwater plant dominant area is: (c1) in the flood season, use the suspended sediments sampling method to sample the freshwater plant dominant area, dry the samples, and obtain the organic matter then calculate the carbon dioxide weight W.sub.c in each cubic meter of water, unit: kg/m.sup.3; and (c2) the annual carbon dioxide equivalent is calculated from the river flow, and the specific calculation method is as follows:
W.sub.yc=3.670W.sub.c×W wherein W is the total annual runoff of the river (m.sup.3), and W.sub.yc is the annual input carbon dioxide equivalent of the river (kg).

4. The method for estimating carbon pools in coastal ecosystems according to claim 1, wherein, the size setting of the carbon source sampling points of the coastal ecosystems is as follows: (d1) do not arrange any sampling points for the freshwater plant dominant area; (d2) the arrangement of sampling points for coastal trees is as follows: areas defined as coastal trees were selected, with a side length of 50 m×50 m as the sampling unit; (d3) the arrangement of sampling points for tidal salt marshes is as follows: select an area defined as a tidal salt marsh type, and use a side length of 1 m×1 m as the sampling unit; and (d4) the arrangement of sampling points for seagrass beds is as follows: an area defined as a seagrass bed type was selected, and a 1 m×1 m area was used as the sampling unit.

5. The coastal ecosystem carbon pool estimation method according to claim 1, wherein, in step (e), the carbon source sampling point sampling method of the coastal ecosystem is: (e1) the sampling methods for coastal trees are as follows: measure the diameter D at breast height of all coastal trees in the sampling unit, and the height of the trunk H, select the plant with the largest diameter at breast height, use a laser scanner to measure and calculate the appearance size of the crown of the largest plant, and integrate to obtain its crown volume V, and calculate its biological amount, converted to carbon; (e2) the following sampling methods were adopted for the tidal salt marsh sampling points: there are two main plant groups in tidal salt marshes: low shrubs and terrestrial herbs; due to their mixed planting status, it is difficult to clearly classify them; after years of field investigation and calculation, the inventor proposed the following methods to sample them: all the living plants above the soil are cut down, dried and weighed, and used to calculate the carbon content of the above-ground part; take the tidal salt marsh soil with a depth of 1 m and a length and width of 1 m, 1) cleaning to obtain all the root systems therein; 2) carrying out specific gravity sieving on the cleaned mixed solution, and sieving out the part obviously belonging to sediment and inorganic calcium, retain the humus and organic matter, and put the humus and organic matter into the transport sampling tank; 3) weigh the sieved sandy part and wash it with dilute hydrochloric acid, weigh the washed weight, and calculate the amount of carbon in the washed calcium carbonate, recharge all the sandy parts into the sampling pit; (e3) for seagrass beds, use the following sampling methods: mow all the live seagrass on the sampling square of the seagrass bed, bring it back to the test, dry and weigh it, and calculate its carbon content; a Luoyang shovel sampler was used to obtain soils with a depth of 1 m in each of the four corners and the center of the sampling unit; when the soil depth of the sampling unit was less than 1 m, the actual depth was recorded, and when it exceeded 1 m, only a depth of 1 m was taken; and when the sample was brought back to lab test for the carbon content.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0064] The following drawings are only intended to illustrate and explain the present invention schematically and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Wherein,

[0065] FIG. 1 is the survey area determination schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0066] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the strip-shaped distribution of the investigation area of the present invention.

[0067] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the tall shrubs and trees quadrat, tidal salt marsh plant quadrat and seagrass bed type quadrat in the survey area of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] The present invention will be further described below with reference to specific embodiments, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1

[0069] As shown in FIG. 1, Estimate carbon stocks in the project area, including the following steps:

[0070] (a) Boundary division method based on water connectivity.

[0071] (a1) For non-estuarine area: take the intertidal zone as the core area, extend to the historical minimum tide level in the sea direction, and extend to the salinity contour boundary 1 with soil salinity of 5% of seawater salinity in the shore direction.

[0072] (a2) Estuary area of this project: the width of the intertidal zone of this project is 1500 m, and the width of the riparian zone on both sides is 267 m and 304 m respectively, then the longitudinal length of the estuary is 1500+333+267=2100 m, and the lateral width is extended to the top of both riparian zones.

[0073] (b) Determination of dominant plant taxonomic areas in coastal ecosystems.

[0074] The dominant plant classification area of the coastal ecosystem is determined. the dominant plants in this project grow along the coastal zone, as shown in FIG. 1, the area of the coastal tree 2, the tidal salt marsh area 3, the seagrass bed area 4, the historical lowest tide level is 5, and the freshwater plant predominant area is 6.

[0075] The plant species in coastal ecosystems are divided into three types: coastal trees and tall shrubs; tidal salt marshes; and seagrass beds; and all other plants are classified into these three types. The shrubs or trees whose height exceeds 1.2 m are classified as coastal trees, those less than 1.2 m and higher than 0.1 m is classified as tidal salt marshes, and those less than 0.1 m are classified as seagrass bed plants.

[0076] There is no other data to support this example, and the following data are used to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent:

[0077] The carbon dioxide equivalent of coastal trees was 0.01415 kg/m.sup.2, the carbon dioxide equivalent of tidal salt marshes was 0.00935 kg/m.sup.2, and the carbon dioxide equivalent of seagrass beds was 0.00396 kg/m.sup.2.

[0078] If the estimated coastal ecosystem includes an estuary area, it is divided into a plant-dominant area, which is called a freshwater plant-dominant area because its main carbon source is from river sediments.

[0079] The carbon dioxide equivalent of the freshwater plant dominant area is divided by the width of the estuary area along the river width:

[0080] The calculation method of the width along the river lateral direction is: river lateral direction width=minimum water level river width at the lowest tide level+left bank riparian width+right bank riparian width.

[0081] When the width of the river in the lateral direction is ≥5 km, the carbon dioxide equivalent in the estuary area is 0.00287 kg/m.sup.2.

[0082] When the width of the river in the lateral direction is 5 km>1.5 km, the carbon dioxide equivalent in the estuary area is 0.00307 kg/m.sup.2.

[0083] When the width of the river in the lateral direction is less than 1.5 km, the carbon dioxide equivalent in the estuary area is 0.00162 kg/m.sup.2.

[0084] In this example, the freshwater plant's dominant area's river width is 1.47 km and less than 1.5 km, so its carbon dioxide equivalent is 0.00162 kg/m.sup.2.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 The area occupied by each species in this project and the calculation of carbon dioxide equivalent Tall Shrubs Predominant and area of Species of Coastal tidal salt seagrass freshwater plant Trees marsh bed plants area (m.sup.2) 11711816.9 7492114.1 8656433.5 2148945.5 carbon dioxide 165722.21 70051.27 34279.48 3481.29 equivalent(kg) Total estimated regional CO.sub.2 equivalents for this project (kg) 273534.2

Example 2

[0085] Estimate Carbon Stocks in the Project Area:

[0086] The step (a) and step (b) is the same as in Example 1. For different plant species classification areas in the ecosystem, the carbon amount is estimated by the following method instead of using the fixed value of Example 1.

[0087] (c) Calculation of carbon sources in freshwater plant dominant areas.

[0088] The specific calculation method is:

[0089] (c1) In the flood season, use the suspended sediments sampling method to sample the freshwater plant dominant area with suspended sediments sample device, dry the samples, obtain the organic matter then calculate the carbon weight W.sub.c in each cubic meter of water, unit: kg/m.sup.3; W.sub.c=0.00027 kg/m.sup.3.

[0090] (c2) The annual carbon dioxide equivalent is calculated from the river flow, and the specific calculation method is as follows:

W.sub.yc=3.67×0.00027×56.1×10.sup.9=55589.49(T/a)

[0091] In which, W=56.1×10.sup.9 m.sup.3 is the total annual runoff of the river, and W.sub.yc is the annual input carbon dioxide equivalent of the river.

Example 3

[0092] (d) Size setting of carbon source sampling points in coastal ecosystems.

[0093] The carbon source sampling point size setting of the coastal ecosystem, the specific setting method is as follows:

[0094] (d2) The arrangement of sampling points 21 for coastal trees is as follows:

[0095] Areas defined as coastal trees were selected, with a side length of 50 m×50 m unit to divide the area.

[0096] (d3) The arrangement of sampling points for tidal salt marshes is as follows:

[0097] Select an area defined as a tidal salt marsh type, and use a side length of 1 m×1 m unit to divide the area.

[0098] (d4) The arrangement of sampling points for seagrass beds is as follows:

[0099] An area defined as a seagrass bed type was selected, and a 1 m×1 m unit was used to divide the area.

[0100] Sampling methods for carbon source sampling points in coastal ecosystems.

[0101] In the above step (e), the sampling method of carbon source sampling point of the coastal ecosystem is:

[0102] (e1) The sampling methods for coastal trees are as follows:

[0103] Measure the DBH and trunk height H of all coastal trees in the sampling unit, see Table 2, select the plant with the largest DBH, and use a laser scanner to measure and calculate the canopy volume V of the largest plant, see FIG. 2. Calculate its biomass and convert to carbon equivalent; the diameter at breast height used here is the diameter of 1.3 m above the ground. The trunk height here is the height from the ground to the top of the tree.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Diameter at breast height and trunk height of coastal trees in the sampling unit No. D (m) H (m) 1 0.080 1.25 2 0.115 1.36 3 0.134 1.42 4 0.169 1.53 5 0.067 1.59 6 0.073 1.32 7 0.143 1.45 8 0.080 1.25 9 0.115 1.36 10 0.045 1.28 11 0.080 1.25 12 0.108 1.34 13 0.111 1.35 14 0.089 1.28 15 0.118 1.37 16 0.153 1.48 17 0.092 1.29 18 0.083 1.26 19 0.076 1.44 20 0.048 1.52 21 0.089 1.28

[0104] Th tree with the largest diameter at breast height in the above table is No. 4, the diameter at breast height is 0.169 m, and the trunk height is 1.53 m. The appearance size of the crown is measured with a laser scanner, and the crown volume V=5.03 m.sup.3.

[0105] In step (f), the carbon source estimation methods for the above six coastal ecosystems include the following:

[0106] (f1) For coastal trees, the calculation formula is as follows:

[0107] The formula for calculating the dry biomass of the canopy is: B.sub.c=3.497×V=17.59 (kg)

[0108] The formula for calculating the dry weight of the trunk biomass is: B.sub.s=830×D.sub.max.sup.1.92H.sub.avg=830×0.169.sup.1.92×1.37=28.5 (kg)

W.sub.crown=B.sub.c×0.454=17.59×0.454=7.98 kg;

W.sub.trunk=B.sub.s×0.465=28.5×0.465=13.25 kg

W.sub.root=2.67S.sub.crown=2.67×7.98=21.32 kg;

W.sub.c=W.sub.crown+W.sub.trunk+W.sub.root=7.98+13.25+21.32=42.56 kg

[0109] D.sub.max is the maximum diameter at breast height in the plot, and H.sub.avg is the average plant height in the sampling unit.

[0110] The carbon dioxide equivalent of all live plants in the plot is:

W.sub.cs=n×(D.sub.avg/D.sub.max)×W.sub.c

W.sub.cs=21×(0.098/0.169)×42.56=518 kg

[0111] In which, n is the number of plants in the plot, D.sub.avg is the average diameter of all plants in the sampling unit, and D.sub.max is the maximum DBH in the sampling unit.

[0112] Through repeated tests and comparisons, the inventor found that in the coastal forest belt composed of tall shrubs and trees, using the thickest plant in a quadratic as a representative, the error between carbon content statistics and reality are small. The sample is small is greatly reduced statistical workload. In particular, the coefficient between the crown and the root system to calculate the root carbon content completely solves the complex problem of the root carbon content of living plants, which is accurate and efficient.

[0113] The carbon dioxide equivalent conversion formula for the dry weight of plants in this sample square is:

[0114] To calculate the canopy volume, the CO.sup.2 equivalent of the crown was calculated using the CO.sup.2 equivalent parameter of 0.454, and the CO.sup.2 equivalent of the trunk was calculated using the parameter 0.465. The total CO.sup.2 equivalent of the roots and surrounding humus soil was 2.67 times the CO.sup.2 equivalent of the crown.

[0115] In this example, the tall shrub and coastal tree type area are 11711816.9 m.sup.2, and the carbon dioxide equivalent of the tall shrub is 2426688.5 kg.

Example 4

[0116] (e2) The following sampling methods are adopted for the tidal salt marsh sampling points 31:

[0117] There are two main plant groups in tidal salt marshes: low shrubs and terrestrial herbs. Due to their mixed planting status, it is difficult to classify them clearly. After years of on-site investigation and calculation, the inventor proposed the following methods to sample them:

[0118] All the live plants above the plot's soil were cut down, dried and weighed to obtain a total weight of 3.2 kg of dry matter, where the unit is 1 m.sup.2. The carbon dioxide equivalent obtained by the combustion method is 1.28 kg, and the carbon dioxide equivalent parameter of the mixed dry matter of the tidal salt marsh surface vegetation is 1.28 kg/m.sup.2.

[0119] Take the tidal salt marsh soil with a depth of 1 m and a length and width of 1 m, 1) cleaning to obtain all the root systems therein; 2) carrying out specific gravity sieving on the cleaned mixed solution, and sieving out the part belonging to sediment and inorganic calcium, retain the humus and organic matter and put the humus and organic matter into the transport sampling tank; 3) weigh the sieved sandy part and wash it with dilute hydrochloric acid, weigh the washed weight, and calculate the amount of carbon in the washed calcium carbonate, recharge all sandy parts into the sampling pit.

[0120] The total weight of humus and organic matter obtained after cleaning the root system is 5.92 kg; the carbon dioxide weight obtained by burning is 2.37 kg.

[0121] The amount of carbon dioxide obtained was 0.18 kg.

[0122] In this way, the carbon dioxide equivalent parameter of the tidal salt marsh sampling point is W.sub.salt marsh=W.sub.above ground part+W.sub.underground part+W.sub.calcium carbonate=1.28+2.37+0.18=3.83 kg/m.sup.2.

[0123] In this example, the area of the tidal salt marsh area is 7492114.1 m.sup.2, and the carbon dioxide equivalent of the tidal salt marsh area is calculated to be 28694797 kg.

Example 5

[0124] (e3) For the seagrass bed sampling point 41, the following sampling methods are adopted:

[0125] Mow all the live seagrass on the sampling square of the seagrass bed, take it back to the laboratory, dry it and weigh it.

[0126] A Luoyang shovel sampler with a cross-sectional area of 0.01 m.sup.2 was used to obtain soils with a depth of 1 m in each of the four corners and the unit's centre. When the soil depth of the unit was less than 1 m, the actual depth was recorded. Take it back to the laboratory for washing and drying.

[0127] The carbon dioxide equivalent of the sample was measured by the combustion method of the above organic matter.

[0128] The carbon dioxide equivalent obtained in the quadrat of this example is 0.034 kg/m.sup.3, and the carbon dioxide equivalent of the seagrass bed in the survey area is 294318.7 kg.

[0129] The carbon dioxide equivalent of the entire survey area is calculated as follows: the annual carbon dioxide equivalent of the river: is 55589490 kg+the carbon dioxide equivalent of tall shrubs is 2426688.5 kg+the carbon dioxide equivalent of the tidal salt marsh area is 28694797 kg+the carbon dioxide equivalent of the seagrass bed is 294318.7 kg=87005 T.

[0130] While the present invention has been explained by reference to the examples of preferred embodiments described above, it will be appreciated that those are examples to assist in understanding the present invention and are not meant to be restrictive. Variations or modifications that are obvious or trivial to persons skilled in the art and improvements made thereon should be considered equivalents of the invention.