Relationship between chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids and the spectral reflectance of two selected mangrove species

Abstract

The pigment of interest in this study are Chl a, Chl b and carotenoids as it is realized as important factor in determining the photosynthetic potential and also primary production. Their relation with spectral reflectance is being studied. The mangrove species chosen for this study are Rhizophora apiculata and Sonneratia caseolaris. The sample are collected in two ranges which are young (DBH < 10 cm) and mature (DBH > 10 cm). Chl a is the prominent pigment compare to Chl b and Cars in all samples with range 18.0180 - 27.4493 mg/L while total Cars in leaves are the least with range 5.9213 - 10.8569 mg/L. The spectral reflectance of all samples show similar pattern but varied in reflectance data. Data show that all samples are reflecting more in NIR region which is up to 60.33%. The young species show higher reflectance value than mature in both species. The mean of Chl a and Cars concentration in young species studied show no relation but for mature stand there is relationship. However, the result is reversely in Chl b. Overall, the relationship between pigment concentration and the spectral reflectance in the blue region showed high correlated while no systematic differences in the green region. In general, the coefficients of determination in the red region have much lower value than other region.