Carbon Stock Estimation in the Mangrove Plantation Area by Using Multi-temporal Satellite Data and the Self-thinning Model

A mangrove plantation as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project is expected as a sink of greenhouse gases, because of their large CO2 sequestration ability of high primary productivity. The method for estimating the amount of carbon stock after plantation was essential for a planning of a mangrove CDM project. However, there is often no information about tree planting year and planting region in the mangrove plantation area. We has been developed the planted year estimation method using multi-temporal images [1]. This method worked effectively in the controlled low-density plantation trees, such as Rhizophora apiculata stands in Thailand. The self-thinning process was known in crowded Kandelia candel stands [2]. Self-thinning is considered as one of the most important plant demographic processes. The 3/2 power law of self-thinning is perhaps the most widely applicable principle in plant population dynamics. Much interest on self-thinning studies has been focused on terrestrial plant populations. In contrast, little information is known about the self-thinning process for mangroves. In this study, the self-thinning model was applied to estimate the carbon stock of the uncontrolled high density Kandelia candel stands in Vietnam.