Researchers from the University of Connecticut's Global Environment Remote Sensing lab are pioneering a new way to study mangrove forests over time. The technique allows them to track and even predict ecosystem health throughout decades of extreme weather events, according to UConn Today.
Mangroves are a group of shoreline trees and shrubs common in warm, tropical, and subtropical parts of the world. They are home to all kinds of species, remove planet-warming gas from the air, and their dense, knee-like branches and roots form a kind of fortification along coasts that are vulnerable to extreme weather and rising sea levels, UConn Today explained.
Yet after repeated storms, mangroves can be damaged and even die, leading to what researchers call "ghost forests." That's the problem the UConn team set out to address: a practical way to monitor mangroves at all levels of health, better understand their recovery process, and slow the loss of this crucial habitat.
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Definitely 👍 The team, led by postdoctoral researcher Xiucheng Yang, started with a series of satellite images of Florida mangrove forests from 2000 to 2022. They then fed those images through an algorithm that can detect disturbances among the forests and track their recoveries, UConn Today reported.
According to the outlet, the resulting map of conditions over time was 97% accurate. That and other findings are published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.
Areas where mangroves thrive, such as Florida, are also increasingly at risk of hurricanes and other severe storms as global temperatures rise. Researchers are concerned by what these changes do to shorelines, but being able to see the impacts clearly is a good step forward.
That's because some mangroves decline from damage more than others, and some naturally recover more than others. Learning what makes a mangrove more or less resilient helps determine where to intervene with human restoration efforts, lab director Zhe Zhu explained to UConn Today.
"Mangroves are like armor to protect us from climate change, but faced with sea level rise and extreme weather, will these important habitats still be available to protect us? Are they resilient enough?" Zhu said. "That's a question everybody wants answered."
"We can provide critical information to identify hotspots for recovery and restoration efforts," team lead Yang said. "This capability is unique."
"For some areas, we indicate that without human intervention, mangroves may either never recover or recover very slowly," Yang added.
Want to do more to protect coastal mangroves and other at-risk habitats? Look for ways to cut down your own environmental impact, as well as that of your household and community. You can also support pro-planet politicians and donate to green initiatives.
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