Assessment of mangrove vulnerability to human activity in mangroves of Ecuador

Marc Simard, Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, marc.simard@jpl.nasa.gov (Presenter)
Nathan Thomas, Aberystwyth University, nmt8@aber.ac.uk
Richard Lucas, Aberystwyth University, rml@aber.ac.uk
Rinku Roy Chowdhurry, Indiana University, rroychow@indiana.edu

We present an assessment of the impact of shrimp farm expansion on mangrove forests of the Guayas Estuary, Ecuador. We analyze land cover and land use change using a combination of Landsat, ALOS-PALSAR and UAVSAR data. The timeseries allows us to estimate changes in mangrove forests that occurred since 1978. The significant cloud cover found along these tropical coasts required a contextual analysis method to provide sufficient time samples to monitor changes. We adopted a spatial segmentation approach with required a few cloud-free pixel to be present for the assessment of change. UAVSAR and field data collected in 2013 enabled high resolution mapping of shrimp farm extent as well as characterization of canopy structure and biomass. New flights collected in March 2015 will provide a 2 year time-series. We show that young mangrove forests that grow on recently accreted grounds can grow by 1meter per year. Thus we expect the new UAVSAR data to capture some of this young forest growth.

We found that, unlike popular beliefs, shrimp farm expansion occurred mainly on mud-flats and high-grounds located in behind the mangroves.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Theme 2: Landscapes to coasts: understanding Earth system connections   (Mon 1:30 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Simard, Mac: Estimating Canopy Height using Repeat-Pass Polarimetric Interferometric (PolinSAR) Data from UAVSAR ...details
• Simard, Mac: Vulnerability assessment of mangrove forests in the Americas ...details

Poster Location ID: 4