Dynamic Estimation of Mangrove Carbon Storage in Hainan Island Based on the InVEST-PLUS Model

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Improve the introduction - currently it is not well written. Add paragraphs about the purpose and structure of the article.

Improve the abstract - you need to make the reader more interested. I don't see anything new here at the moment.

The methodology is very long-winded and unclear - it requires comprehensive improvement and division.

The methodological section has specific steps, where are they? Where does chapter 3 start?

Conclusions - they are too short. They need to be expanded.

Think about the article and highlight the novelty you have developed here.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Mangrove ecosystems are large carbon reservoirs and have great potential for carbon sequestration. Primarily due to the preservation of existing mangroves, as well as by increasing the area occupied by mangroves. The second path is possible with the implementation of Chinese government policy aimed at preserving and expanding mangroves.

However, according to the modeling results, in both cases, NIS and MPS, the results obtained were almost identical in terms of increase in the area of mangroves. Moreover, according to the NIS scenario, the spread of mangroves is even more active. In this case, it is more profitable not to do anything special, and thus minimize the costs of increasing the area of mangroves.

It may be necessary to more carefully study the input parameters in the model calculations to verify the result obtained. In addition, it is not clear how forecast climate change scenarios are taken into account in these models and whether they are taken into account at all.

In my opinion, Figure 5 is not very clear (informative). Perhaps it should be presented in the form of a table with values.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

I would like to congratulate the authors for the time and efforts dedicated to this study which serves to extend the barriers of knowledge about the future of mangrove environments and the impact of different anthropogenic and natural dynamics on the conservation of these ecosystems.

Please find attached a review document with some comments and suggestions which I believe can contribute to enhancing the quality of the current manuscript.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

In general, there is good use of English although some expressions and minor corrections must be undertaken. Please refer to the attached document with suggestions.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

The study has evaluated the estimation of carbon storage over the next 40 years. The paper presents a commendable effort to model and analyse the dynamics of mangrove coverage and carbon storage on Hainan Island, leveraging the Markov-PLUS and InVEST models. However, incorporating a few suggested improvements and conducting a minor spell check could further enhance the paper's quality. The specific comments are given below.

Major Comments:

Introduction:

1)      It is well contextualized. While the introduction references various models and studies, it might be improved by discussing any limitations or challenges encountered in previous work that the current study aims to overcome.  

2)      It should be made clear how this research differs from or builds upon the previous models and studies mentioned. What new insights or advancements are being proposed?

Study area: Although the study area section is well-detailed and lays a solid foundation for understanding the physical context of the research, the below points should be considered to improve the manuscript.

3)      More information on why these specific mangrove areas are critical to the study's objectives could be added. For instance, are these areas representative of different mangrove types, or do they have particular significance for biodiversity or carbon storage?

4)      Any historical changes in the mangrove coverage of Hainan Island and its drivers could be mentioned to establish a baseline for the study.

5)      Clarify why a 5 km buffer zone is used. Is this a standard practice in such studies, or is there a specific reason for choosing this distance?

Methods:

6)      Carbon density matrices (Table 2) provide carbon density data, the method of how these densities were measured or calculated should be explicitly stated. A brief explanation of what these carbon densities mean in the context of mangrove ecosystems and their significance to the study would be valuable. The spelling mistakes should be corrected in the table (mangor??).

7)      It could briefly explain why the forecasting horizon (up to 2065, as mentioned in the abstract) was chosen, providing context for the timeframes considered.

8)      The paper discusses the specifics of land conversion under the Natural Increase Scenario (NIS) and Mangrove Protection Scenario (MPS), offering a nuanced look at how different policies could affect mangrove distribution. While the scenarios are well explained, the paper could directly link these scenarios to actual conservation strategies and potential real-world outcomes.

9)      Section 3:  The paragraph numbering is improperly sequenced. It jumps directly to Section 3.1 without clearly starting Section 3. The result section starts from where?

10)  Figures 3, 4 and 6: Enhance caption as …under the natural increase scenario over (b) to (g) regions as defined in Figure 1.

Discussion

11)  While the study's regional focus is clear, expanding on how these findings contribute to global understanding of mangrove carbon storage would be valuable.

12)  In the Discussion write also the limitations of the study. What are future scope; In what way this study is useful to various stakeholders? All these points should be discussed.

Minor comments

Use the scientific correct terminology between LUCC or LULC?

L72: Rewrite here ". of research ......."

Moderate English edit required

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 5 Report

The manuscript titled "Dynamic Estimation of Mangrove Carbon Storage in Hainan Is-2 land Based on the InVEST-PLUS Model" is of interest to the readers of journal. It is well written and expressed. But few queries needs to be addressed before consideration for publication.

1. Mention the limitations of existing models in the introduction section. There is no research gap.

2. What is most significant novelty of this work that has not been done previously?

3. I suggest highlighting the significance of the selected Island in Introduction section.

4. Revise Fig 1 as it is not containing relevant information of a location map. Provide location in terms of state, district and Iceland etc.

5. How the information given in Table 2 is generated? 

6. What does different alphabets (A, B, C,....) represent in Table 2?

7. Add the future scope of the current work.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 4 Report

The author(s) have addressed all comments/suggestions and the edits have been incorporated in the revised manuscript.