Journal of Coastal Conservation最新文献

Mangrove forests protect the coastal environment and reduce shoreline shift, deforestation, and flood inundation. Global sea-level rise (SLR) and Bay of Bengal (BoB) cyclonic effects in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) is gradually trigger environmental degradation, flood inundation, and mangrove deforestation. Bangladesh Sundarbans are also affected by SLR and flood inundation every year. Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) is vulnerable because of extreme climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities. Those environmental effects are measurable through remote sensing (RS) and GIS approaches. Three types of satellite data, like Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS, Sentinel-1 GRD and Sentinel-2 MSI datasets, were applied with the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform. Around 11.57 km² of mangrove forest will be lost from 2017 to 2022. The cyclone effects are located twice, like Mora (2017) and Sitrang (2022), while affected landforms are 77.15 km² (1.38%) and 218.75 km² (3.93%), respectively. Vegetation monitoring indices are also good outcomes for forest land change assessment over the examined area. Forest degradation index (FDI) values were observed in 1950 (2017) and 2620 (2022), which mentioned that north, middle, and near-shore areas are affected lands. Some adaptation planning implemented by the local government includes future disaster management, early warning system, reduction of river bank erosion, restricted forest area, and mangrove plantation. Putney Island, Bangabandhu Island, and Dimer Island are the most deforested lands. These investigation outcomes are helpful for future disaster planning, coastal environment management, awareness, mangrove forest restoration, and novel approaches to protect the coastal environment with healthier improvement policies.

The Little Andaman Island face exploitation masked as development through the implementation of policies and schemes, which ultimately deplete and degrade its natural resources. Additionally, the island is also susceptible to frequent natural disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, compounding environmental challenges. The main aim of this study was to assess the dynamic changes in the landscape of Little Andaman during the years 1976, 1989, 2010, 2014, and 2022 using satellite data. Thematic maps of the area were generated using visual interpretation techniques. The study revealed that the dominant land cover in Little Andaman was forests, which gradually decreased from 622.79 km² in 1976 to 579.6 km² in 2022, resulting in an overall loss of 43.1 km² over 47 years. On the other hand, settlements, including built-up areas and agriculture, nearly doubled in size from 18.9 km² in 1976 to 36.60 km² in 2022. Mangroves, in contrast, exhibited stable coverage, with an area of approximately 31 km² in 1976, showing minor fluctuations until 2022. Plantations experienced an increase from 19.37 km² in 1989 to 22.28 km² in 2022. Water bodies also expanded gradually, reaching 10.4 km² in 2010 and maintaining a consistent size until 2022. In the meantime, degraded forests and degraded mangroves showed minimal changes over the years. The study identified a range of factors contributing to these changes, with a particular focus on tsunamis, climate change, and government policies and schemes.

Abstract

This work seeks to demonstrate how light pollution impacts fishing activities, including catch rates and the profits of fishermen. Our goal is to examine how light pollution affects the fishing dynamics of sardines and anchovies in the Casablanca-Rabat region of Morocco, within a bioeconomic framework involving these two marine populations. In this article, we show that our model is well posed by studying the positivity and the boundedness of our system, and then we show the local stability of the interior equilibrium point. Then, we move on to calculating the fishing effort that maximizes fishermen’s profits and catches under two main constraints: The influence of light pollution on the sustained viability of the sardine and anchovy populations. Using data reported by the National Fisheries Research Institute (INRH), we obtain detailed results in numerical simulations.

Shoreline change analysis is crucial for identifying coastal issues and understanding their underlying causes. This study focuses on investigating the coastal impacts of the Derekoy Fishing Port in Samsun, a city located on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Temporal changes between 1984 and 2021 were analyzed using Landsat-5 TM/Landsat-8 OLI satellite images in conjunction with image processing and geographic information systems (GIS). Net shoreline movement (NSM), shoreline change envelope (SCE), end point rate (EPR), and linear regression rate (LRR) methods were used to investigate the changes in the shoreline. Polygon overlay analysis was utilized to determine the areas of erosion and accretion. The results indicate that prior to the port's construction, the coast remained relatively stable during the period of 1984–1995. However, sediment accretion occurred on the updrift side of the port, while erosion intensified on the downdrift side during the port's construction from 1995 to 2004. Despite the implementation of coastal protection structures to combat erosion, complete prevention was not achieved, and erosion shifted further eastward. Throughout 1984–2021, approximately 15.62 hectares of beaches were lost due to erosion, with a maximum value of -56.2 m recorded. The coastal erosion and the construction of coastal protection structures have disturbed coastal morphology and resulted in various environmental and socio-economic issues along the 19 Mayis and Atakum beaches. This study reveals the significant consequences of a small fishing port built without proper planning and adequate precautions, drawing attention to the problems.

Topography and vegetation have a significant role in soil development in different ecosystems. Interactions between soil and landforms help to understand the pedogenic processes and soil variability. The present study assessed the impact of various landforms and vegetation on pedological variability along the toposequence of the eastern coastal plain. We characterized 46 soil profiles from five landforms, viz., foothills, upland, alluvial plains, coastal plains, and sandbars and performed factor analysis. The frequency distribution of the soil properties was significantly skewed with each other’s. Soils are classified into three orders: Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Entisols from hills to sandbars. The soils were characterized by clay (2.50–65.8%), AWC (4.0–28.0%), pH (5.40–9.40), EC (0.03–5.60 dSm⁻¹), OC (0.01–1.13%), CEC (1.0-31.60 cmol (p⁺) kg⁻¹), BS (57–95%) and ESP (0.54–27.8%). Whereas alluvial plain soils are rich in clay and organic carbon, foothill and upland soils experience severe to moderate soil erosion, leading to the leaching of basic cations. Coastal plains face regular seawater intrusion and flooding, causing excess deposition of salts, which alter the soil pedogenic process under different landforms and land use. Soil pH, EC, clay, CEC and ESP significantly influenced the paddy yield in alluvial and coastal plains landforms. Development of landform and soil relationships concerning land uses in coastal regions helps to identify factors involved in soil development, pedogenic processes and crop productivity.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an immediate lockdown declared by the government of India (March to April 2020) which saw a decrease in public activities. In view of this, a comparative study was carried out on the influence of environmental parameters on methane activities between the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods along a tropical estuarine mangrove ecosystem. Significant changes in the studied parameters specially in the organic matter and methane production rates (P < 0.05) were observed. During the lockdown as compared to the pre-lockdown period, the downstream site was impacted more than those at the upstream site with an average methane production decrease by 60X and 1.5X respectively. Both, oxidation and production of methane decreased during the lockdown and was related to organic matter availability (P < 0.05). The findings elucidate the positive impact of lockdown on the model ecosystem and the reduction in greenhouse methane activities.

Saltmarsh land-cover (SLC) ecosystems, composed of unvegetated mudflats, saltmarshes, mangroves, and/or seagrass communities, are vulnerable to climate-induced impacts, such as sea level rise. Extracting a seamless and consistent waterline from satellite imagery is a major challenge because of environmental factors, such as turbidity, water depth and multiple types of underwater vegetation cover that introduce noise in the extraction of information. Hence, a water index, derived from multi-temporal Landsat 8 (OLI) data, acquired under different tides is proposed for mapping land-water across SLC wetlands by tracking waterlines. This provided inundation maps and defined eco-zones to specify south-eastern Bangladesh wetland composition. The NDWI_1 (McFeeters’s water index) applied to 42 OLI images and derived land-water difference maps generated inundation gradient maps with an overall classification accuracy of 87.8%. The simple intersection and union of region-of-interests extracted from the tide heights above the mean low-water springs enabled the mapping of four categories of wetland composition based on hydroperiods: a) irregularly inundated (II), regularly inundated (RI), irregularly exposed (IE; high floodplain), and subtidal (river bed and deep water sea). For all of the three study sites, mangrove, seagrass, non-mangrove and agriculture were all prominent on the IE eco-zone, while only saltmarsh was dominant on the II eco-zone. These maps of SLC wetland will enrich previous concepts of eco-zonation models that include salinity, erosion, accretion and rate of sea level rise as factors, suggesting that inundation extent and tidal phase complexities should be considered in the remote sensing of SLC composition for improved models of SLC vegetation response to climate change.

Determining the environmental sensitivity of an area provides an early warning of potential land-use problems that can determine the location and extent of possible adverse effects for preventive planning and decision-making. The Coastal Zone Sensitivity Map supports the development of response strategies in potential oil spill programs. This project studies the 187-km coastline north of the Persian Gulf, including a special economic zone and a protected area. The proximity of various oil and gas development projects to the national park located in this area, and the possible threats of these industrial activities to the park's environment, highlight the importance of this study more than ever before. To prepare the environmental sensitivity map of this area, we studied the sensitive vegetation in the area, as well as the presence of birds, existing animal cover, susceptible organisms, fish, aquatic organisms, and types of beaches. This study revealed the existence of various species with conservation value in this area, including 13 species of birds, four species of reptiles and amphibians, nine species of mammals, five species of marine animals, and one plant species. By preparing an environmental sensitivity map, local authorities and decision-makers gain valuable insights into identifying vulnerable areas during oil spills or incidents that pose risks to the environment.

The IUCN Red List, which provides data on distribution, ecology and habitats, population size, economic uses, threats and conservation actions, is a critical indicator of the status of the world's biodiversity and will assist in informing a necessary conservation decision. The Mediterranean region is characterized by a heavy endemism of plant diversity, where the majority of its species are narrow endemic species. The current investigation aims at evaluating the conservation status, degree of extinction of Mediterranean endemic plants in Egypt and their changes over the recent climate changes. Twenty Field trips were conducted from February 2017 to March 2023, investigating different regions in the coastal Mediterranean strip in Egypt. In addition, all the previous studies performed in the investigated area, scientific literature, and different herbaria have been taken into consideration. Coordinates, main habitats and threats for 15 Mediterranean endemic taxa were conducted during visits to evaluate their level of conservation depending on IUCN categories. The current investigation indicated that nine taxa were found to be threatened (7 endangered, 2 critically endangered). In addition, four taxa were believed to be extinct, while two species were recorded as Data Deficient. Climate changes (drought and excessive temperature) and human impacts (urbanization and tourism) are the most effective threats on the taxa in this region. The present investigation is the pioneer study for completely evaluation of these taxa according to IUCN criteria.

Development literature on road infrastructure exists, yet the scholarly works on road access in the Seven Maar Lakes merely touch upon, but lesser tackled. Lake roads are fleetingly referenced but marginal academically stressed, wanting to study exclusively. This article investigates and examines the road access of the crater lakes from the above outlook. Explicitly, Sampaloc Lake, Bunot Lake, Palakpakin Lake, Pandin Lake, Yambo Lake, Mohicap Lake, and Calibato Lake look into the road infrastructure’s big picture and espouse a subjective-qualitative perspective to verify and recognize the still-in-progress proceedings and hindrances. The inferences are: (1) All the seven crater lakes’ road accessibility is present, but the local government’s route direction is different, and the local communities and tourism’s development of the entry-exit road is still to be completed overall. (2) Sampaloc Lake has spearheaded advancing the road infrastructure, while Pandin Lake, Yambo Lake, and Mohicap Lake have ameliorated the premier route and brought forward the small lake’s economic development. (3) Bunot Lake, Palakpakin Lake, and Calibato Lake still have issues with the in-and-out designated paths, especially touching the tourism expansion and aquaculture facilitation, as the direct and open entrance roads are still wanting, specifically Calibato Lake, as it is absent. (4) The Seven Maar Lakes have embraced the fundamental condition— road access, notwithstanding the different status and circumstances. Overall, the lake road trajectory is about the center for tourism development, supporting the lake’s resources and facilitating their populace.