For decades, mangrove forests have been under tremendous pressure due to deforestation and conversion. To sustainably manage the mangroves that remain, an ecosystem approach to management is essential. Two different management regimes – conservation and restoration – were assessed, looking at their respective effects on forest structure and carbon cycling capacity, when compared with degraded mangrove. We found that mangrove restoration enhanced tree density, while mangrove conservation was able to maintain species diversity. In terms of carbon budgets, aboveground carbon was lower in restored mangrove (79.40 ± 37.41 Mg C ha⁻¹) when compared with conserved mangrove (92.26 ± 22.65 Mg C ha⁻¹), but was almost double that found in degraded mangrove (39.89 ± 27.49 Mg C ha⁻¹). Although conserved mangrove had higher aboveground carbon, lower amounts of soil carbon were found in conserved mangrove (127.49 ± 33.21 Mg C ha⁻¹) than in restored and degraded mangrove (236.26 ± 20.33 Mg C ha⁻¹ and 139.17 ± 25.44 Mg C ha⁻¹, respectively). The elevation change was highest in degraded mangrove (41.7 ± 24.0 mm yr⁻¹), followed by restored (20.7 ± 14.6 mm yr⁻¹) and conserved mangrove (12.2 ± 3.9 mm yr⁻¹). Carbon burial in conserved mangrove (1.20 ± 1.90 Mg C ha⁻² yr⁻¹) was double that of degraded mangrove (0.63 ± 0.60 Mg C ha⁻² yr⁻¹). Ultimately, we conclude that although a conserved mangrove is not always the end result of mangrove restoration and sustainable management, finding balance between structural development and ecosystem function is essential to serve different objectives, including biodiversity maintenance.

几十年来，由于森林砍伐和转化，红树林承受着巨大的压力。为了可持续地管理剩余的红树林，生态系统管理方法至关重要。评估了两种不同的管理制度——保护和恢复——与退化的红树林相比，它们各自对森林结构和碳循环能力的影响。我们发现红树林恢复提高了树木密度，而红树林保护能够保持物种多样性。在碳预算方面，与保护红树林 (92.26 ± 22.65 Mg C ha ^-1 )相比，恢复红树林 (79.40 ± 37.41 Mg C ha ^-1 ) 的地上碳含量较低，但几乎是退化红树林 (39.89 Mg C ha ^-1 ) 的两倍± 27.49 Mg C ha ^-1）。尽管保护红树林具有较高的地上碳，但在保护红树林中发现的土壤碳量 (127.49 ± 33.21 Mg C ha ^-1 ) 低于恢复和退化红树林 (236.26 ± 20.33 Mg C ha ^-1和 139.17 ± 25.44 Mg C ha ^{-1 ) -1}，分别）。退化红树林（41.7 ± 24.0 mm yr ^-1）的海拔变化最高，其次是恢复（20.7 ± 14.6 mm yr ^-1）和保护红树林（12.2 ± 3.9 mm yr ^-1）。保护红树林中的碳埋藏量 (1.20 ± 1.90 Mg C ha ^-2 yr ^-1 ) 是退化红树林 (0.63 ± 0.60 Mg C ha ^-2 yr ^-1 ) 的两倍）。最终，我们得出的结论是，虽然受保护的红树林并不总是红树林恢复和可持续管理的最终结果，但在结构发展和生态系统功能之间找到平衡对于实现不同的目标（包括生物多样性维护）至关重要。