Despite the increasing interest on mangroves due to their recognition as one of the most carbon rich ecosystem, arid mangroves are still poorly investigated. We aimed to improve the knowledge on biomass and soil carbon sequestration for an arid mangrove forest located at the Azini creek, Sirik, Hormozgan Province (Iran). Three different regions were considered based on the composition of the principal species growing in the study area: 1) Avicennia marina, 2) mixed forest of A. marina and Rhizophora mucronata, and 3) R. mucronata. Biomass carbon storage, considering both aboveground (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB), was signi cantly different between the cover areas. Signi cantly higher values of soil organic carbon stock were found in the sites under Rhizophora spp. than in the site with pure stand of Avicennia spp. . Overall, the mean forest biomass (TFB) was 305 Mg ha -1 and the highest proportion of organic carbon (62 %) was found to be stored in the soil, while the lowest was located in the root biomass (BGB; 10%). The AGB accounted for about 28% of the C stored in the studied site, with signi cant differences between the three vegetation areas. Our results on carbon storage can be used by local policy to promote conservation actions in arid mangrove forests, which also represent an important climatic threshold of mangrove worldwide distribution.

Despite the increasing interest on mangroves due to their recognition as one of the most carbon rich ecosystem, arid mangroves are still poorly investigated. We aimed to improve the knowledge on biomass and soil carbon sequestration for an arid mangrove forest located at the Azini creek, Sirik, Hormozgan Province (Iran). Three different regions were considered based on the composition of the principal species growing in the study area: 1) Avicennia marina, 2) mixed forest of A. marina and Rhizophora mucronata, and 3) R. mucronata. Biomass carbon storage, considering both aboveground (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB), was significantly different between the cover areas. Significantly higher values of soil organic carbon stock were found in the sites under Rhizophora spp. than in the site with pure stand of Avicennia spp. . Overall, the mean forest biomass (TFB) was 305 Mg ha-1 and the highest proportion of organic carbon (62 %) was found to be stored in the soil, while the lowest was located in the root biomass (BGB; 10%). The AGB accounted for about 28% of the C stored in the studied site, with significant differences between the three vegetation areas. Our results on carbon storage can be used by local policy to promote conservation actions in arid mangrove forests, which also represent an important climatic threshold of mangrove worldwide distribution.