Abstract
Mangrove deforestation is occurring globally at a rapid rate, and is causing serious ecological and economic losses on all scales. Monitoring mangrove changes is the first important step for mangrove management and conservation. Zonation of mangrove species (ZMS) is the predictable and discrete ordering of mangrove species caused by a unique, intertidal environment. Mapping the ZMS is critical to understanding the mangrove community at a species level. In this paper, the Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE) was proposed as a method to evaluate mangrove species from a new dimension of directional changes. Three dominant mangrove species, Kandelia obovata (KO), Avicennia marina (AM), and Acanthus ilicifolius (AI), in Mai Po, Hong Kong were analyzed using SDEs based on the time series Système Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) and Gaofen-1 (GF-1) satellite images. The SDE results demonstrated that in the past 25 years: (1) The overall spatial extent of the mangroves in Mai Po expanded significantly, approximately from 150 to 350 Ha, and show a zonation pattern with a clear sequence of species perpendicular to the shoreline; (2) KO was the dominant species in most years, showing the strongest directional characteristic; (3) All three species zones have moved toward the north and west, as observed by the SDE centers. The SDE was proved to be a useful tool for understanding the temporal and spatial changes of mangrove zonation.
Highlights
Mangrove ecosystems are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, and play important ecological roles in the whole coastal ecosystem and global carbon cycle [1,2,3]
This paper presents an evaluation of the mangrove zonation changes in Mai Po Reserve of Hong Kong from 1991 to 2015
Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE) was applied with its unique parameters, including rotations, flattening, standard deviations, and mean centers, in order to obtain directional information for each mangrove species, in addition to its spatial extent
Summary
Mangrove ecosystems are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, and play important ecological roles in the whole coastal ecosystem and global carbon cycle [1,2,3]. Salt tolerant plants living in the intertidal areas along the tropical and subtropical coastline [1], mangrove forests provide nursery habitats for other associate faunal and flora assemblages, for instance bacteria, fungi, fish, crabs, shrimp, birds, mammals, and other mangrove associate plants, which together constitute the mangrove forest community. These mangrove communities provide commercial products like food, timber, fuel, and medicines for local residents, and act as a buffer which protects coastal regions from natural disasters and coastal erosion [1,3,4,5]. Considering the ecological and economic significance of mangrove forests, understanding their temporal changes is important for conservation efforts
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