ORCID

Abstract

Mangroves are globally important blue-carbon ecosystems, yet their resilience isthreatened by extreme weather events and hydrological alterations. Insoutheastern Mexico, a large mangrove die-off occurred in 1995 followingHurricane Roxanne and Tropical Storm Opal, linked to storm-surge–drivenhypersalinity, sedimentation, and prolonged flooding. In 2005, an ecologicalrestoration program was launched in the Términos Lagoon region, focusing onhydrological rehabilitation and reforestation with Avicennia germinans. Fourteenyears later, we assessed ecosystem recovery by quantifying total ecosystemcarbon stocks (TECS), defined as the sum of 0–50-cm soil organic carbon andtree biomass carbon, across conserved, degraded, and restored sites, and byreconstructing vegetation cover dynamics from multi-decadal satellite imagery(1984–2023). TECS differed markedly among conditions: The restored siteaccumulated 286.0 ± 32.6 Mg C ha−¹ (83% of the conserved site), whereasdegraded sites stored only 133.0 ± 26.8 Mg C ha−¹. The increase in TECS at therestored site was primarily associated with enhanced soil organic carbon stocks,consistent with improved hydroperiod, recovery of interstitial waterphysicochemical conditions, and renewed autochthonous organic matterinputs following hydrological reconnection and initial reforestation. Biomasscarbon remained lower at the restored site, reflecting younger stand age,although vegetation indices indicated rapid canopy recovery within 7 years ofthe intervention. These results show that hydrological rehabilitation cansubstantially re establish long-term carbon storage capacity in hurricane impacted mangroves and highlight the need for sustained monitoring toevaluate ecosystem service recovery and guide climate mitigation and coastalresilience strategies.

Publication Date

2026-01-23

Publication Title

Frontiers in Marine Science

Volume

12

Acceptance Date

2025-12-19

Deposit Date

2026-01-26

Funding

The author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. Laboratory facilities and logistical support for sample collection and analysis were provided by the Coastal Wetlands Laboratory and the EPOMEX Institute at the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Mexico. The Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE) provided funding for the restoration as an environmental compensation measure for land-use change associated with the installation of power transmission towers. The Universidad Autónoma de Campeche covered the publication costs of the manuscript to enable its dissemination in open access.

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