Sponsor
This research was funded by the Global Environmental Facility’s Blue Forest project and grants from the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Darwin Initiative.
Published In
Remote Sensing
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Subjects
Madagascar, Landsat satellites -- Remote sensing, Mangrove conservation, Mangrove forests
Abstract
Mangrove ecosystems help mitigate climate change, are highly biodiverse, and provide critical goods and services to coastal communities. Despite their importance, anthropogenic activities are rapidly degrading and deforesting mangroves world-wide. Madagascar contains 2% of the world’s mangroves, many of which have undergone or are starting to exhibit signs of widespread degradation and deforestation. Remotely sensed data can be used to quantify mangrove loss and characterize remaining distributions, providing detailed, accurate, timely and updateable information. We use USGS maps produced from Landsat data to calculate nation-wide dynamics for Madagascar’s mangroves from 1990 to 2010, and examine change more closely by partitioning the national distribution in to primary (i.e., >1000 ha) ecosystems; with focus on four Areas of Interest (AOIs): Ambaro-Ambanja Bays (AAB), Mahajamba Bay (MHJ), Tsiribihina Manombolo Delta (TMD) and Bay des Assassins (BdA). Results indicate a nation–wide net-loss of 21% (i.e., 57,359 ha) from 1990 to 2010, with dynamics varying considerably among primary mangrove ecosystems. Given the limitations of national-level maps for certain localized applications (e.g., carbon stock inventories), building on two previous studies for AAB and MHJ, we employ Landsat data to produce detailed, contemporary mangrove maps for TMD and BdA. These contemporary, AOI-specific maps provide improved detail and accuracy over the USGS national-level maps, and are being applied to conservation and restoration initiatives through the Blue Ventures’ Blue Forests programme and WWF Madagascar West Indian Ocean Programme Office’s work in the region.
Rights
To the best of our knowledge, this work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
DOI
10.3390/rs8020106
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/17257
Citation Details
Jones, T., Glass, L., Gandhi, S., Ravaoarinorotsihoarana, L., Carro, A., Benson, L., … Cripps, G. (2016). Madagascar’s Mangroves: Quantifying Nation-Wide and Ecosystem Specific Dynamics, and Detailed Contemporary Mapping of Distinct Ecosystems. Remote Sensing, 8(2), 106. http://doi.org/10.3390/rs8020106