Assessment of wetland landscape changes based on landscape metrics and trophic state index (case study: Anzali International Wetland).

Abstract

Wetlands play an important role in conserving biodiversity, the hydrosphere's equilibrium, and the maintenance of daily livelihood; therefore, the trophic process hastens the succession procedure in them, resulting in structural changes in the landscape. The study aimed to monitor and investigate the impact of the trophic procedure on landscape structural changes in Anzali Wetland, specifically domains related to vegetation canopy and water bodies, over 24 years. The TSI (trophic state index) of the Anzali Wetland, a vital habitat in the south of the Caspian Sea, was estimated by using the Carlson TSI for 1994, 2002, 2014, and 2018. Based on satellite data for these years, the structural landscape changes were also measured using metrics such as the number of patches (NumP), class area (CA), mean patch size (MPS), and mean shape index (MSI) of the measured patch using in Patch Analyst. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was then used to calculate the correlation between the two variables of trophic index modifications and landscape metrics. Results showed that the TSI of the wetland touched 59.51 in 1994 and then reached 65.10 in 2018. Its water body area, which was 5283.90 ha in 1994, decreased to 4183.92 ha in 2018, indicating the greatest decrease in the area from 2002 to 2018. In addition, the maximum area of vegetation canopy in 2018 was 11696.31 ha. The trophic exhibited a positive correlation of 0.8 with the area of the vegetation canopy and a positive correlation of 0.4 with the NumP of the vegetation canopy. It also had an inverse correlation of -0.4 with the area and NumP of the water body. Based on the study findings, changes in the trophic level of Anzali Wetland can be regarded as a direct factor influencing the vegetation canopy and water body.