Abstract
Changes in mangrove vegetation have been identified as important indicators of environmental deterioration. The mangroves of the Tanbi Wetland National Park (TWNP) connect the Atlantic coast with the estuary of the River Gambia and as such, play an invaluable role in the agriculture, tourism and fisheries sectors of The Gambia. Our research seeks to understand the long-term changes in the mangrove vegetation in order to strengthen the formulation of sustainable alternative livelihoods and adaptation strategies to climate change. Mangrove vegetation dynamics was assessed by remote sensing, using decadal Landsat images covering 1973 - 2012. Physicochemical parameters were analyzed during the rainy and dry seasons for correlation with climate data. Our findings indicate that the long-term changes in salinity (24.5 and 35.8ppt) and water temperature (27.6℃ and 30.2℃) during the rainy and dry seasons respectively are retarding mangrove growth. Mangrove vegetation cover declined by 6%, while grassland increased by 56.4%. This research concludes that long-term hyper-salinity is the cause for the stunted vegetation and lack of mangrove rejuvenation in TWNP. We propose that specialized replanting systems such as the use of saplings be adopted instead of the conventional use of propagules. Alternative livelihoods also need to be diversified to support coastal communities.
Highlights
Mangroves are unique tropical and subtropical plants that are specially adapted to thrive in inundated and saline intertidal zones [1]
With an area of about 6300ha [19], the Tanbi Wetland National Park (TWNP) is flanked on the Southeast by the River Gambia and to the Northwest by the Atlantic Ocean and the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) in the Southwest [18], as well as the capital city Banjul on the East [20]
The findings from this research indicate that the mangroves of TWNP have been very well conserved with minimum human interference
Summary
Mangroves are unique tropical and subtropical plants that are specially adapted to thrive in inundated and saline intertidal zones [1]. The impacts of socio-economic activities such as agriculture, settlement and ecotourism; coupled with the recent changes in climate variables such as atmospheric temperature, rainfall and sea level have led to reduced habitat integrity (hyper-salinity) [9]. Such drastic changes in hydrology were reported to induce stunting of Avicennia marina L. stands and denaturing of terminal buds in Rhizophora mangle L. seedlings in the USA [10]. Austin et al [11] suggested that modest changes in rainfall and temperature caused significant reductions in mean annual runoff and increased stream salt concentrations in Murray-Darlin Basin (Australia), resulting in loss of mangrove vegetation
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