Abstract
Mangroves are the natural protectors of the coast, carbon sinks, and a nursery to many terrestrial as well as aquatic organisms. Different effects caused by natural forces together with anthropogenic factors have reduced mangrove cover on a global scale, yet little is known about the overall surface covered by mangroves in the Arabian Gulf. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine their spatial coverage and distribution along the Gulf coastlines, using 25 satellite imagery recently acquired from Landsat 8 data for the year 2017. This study found about 165 km2 of fragmented scattered mangroves, mostly intense in the United Arab Emirates, where plantation projects have likely played a significant role in increasing their cover over the years. Whereas mangrove in Kuwait is rare, areas like Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia remained stable with a slight increase. However, mangroves in Iran appear to suffer a decline throughout the years.
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Acknowledgements
I thank Space Research Institute in King Abdul-Aziz city for Science and Technology (KACST) for providing the raw data and Christine Nelson for proofreading the manuscript. I also thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped improving the paper.
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Almahasheer, H. Spatial coverage of mangrove communities in the Arabian Gulf. Environ Monit Assess 190, 85 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6472-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-6472-2