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Mangrove Forests of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman

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Threats to Mangrove Forests

Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 25))

Abstract

Mangrove forests are found as isolated units of varying length and width along the coast line of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. These forests are scattered within the intertidal and are among emergent plant communities occurring along land-sea margins in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and a small part of Pakistan in Govatr Bay. Avicennia marina and Rhizophora spp. are found in this region. Recently, as the effect of industrialization and development, as well as global environmental changes, concern about status, health, damage, disturbance and reducing mangrove area are a big challenge both for ecologists and engineers in these regions. Hence, producing mangrove map distributions and monitoring their change during the time is necessary. Mangrove habitat maps have been used for three general management applications: resource inventory, change detection, and the selection and inventory of aquaculture sites. This chapter quantifies mangrove forest cover and monitors their changes in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman from 1977 to 2017, using Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. The mangrove distribution maps are created by using remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). An image processing technique entitled normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) was used to detect mangrove forests in six countries located within the border study area. Even though the results show negative effects of human activity in some regions, overall, mangrove forests increased during 1977–2017. This increase in mangrove forests in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman represent sustainable development and management for mangrove ecosystems in this region.

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Acknowledgement

This project was funded by Faculty of Earth Science in Shahid Beheshti University, Iran. We would like to express our appreciation to all colleagues who provided us with their valuable support and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Geography Department, Earth Science Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Alireza Salehipour Milani

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  1. Alireza Salehipour Milani
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Correspondence to Alireza Salehipour Milani .

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  1. Coastal Education & Research Foundation (CERF), Coconut Creek, Florida, USA

    Christopher Makowski

  2. Coastal Education & Research Foundation (CERF), Asheville, North Carolina, USA

    Charles W. Finkl

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Milani, A.S. (2018). Mangrove Forests of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. In: Makowski, C., Finkl, C. (eds) Threats to Mangrove Forests. Coastal Research Library, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73016-5_3

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