Inventory of mangrove wetlands in the Pearl River Estuary of China using remote sensing

Mangrove forests have important ecological functions in protecting the environment. However, the mangrove wetlands have been largely lost because of intensified human activities in the study area. Remote sensing can be conveniently used for the inventory of mangrove forests because field investigation is very difficult. In this study, a knowledge-based system is developed to retrieve spatio-temporal dynamics of mangrove wetlands using multi-temporal remote sensing data. Radar remote sensing data are also used to provide complementary information for the quantitative analysis of mangrove wetlands. Radar remote sensing is able to penetrate mangrove forests and obtain the trunk information about mangrove structures. The integration of radar remote sensing with optical remote sensing can significantly improve the accuracies of classifying mangrove wetland types and estimating wetland biomass.

Comparison of Meiofaunal Abundance in Two Mangrove Wetlands in Tong'an Bay, Xiamen, China

To compare meiofaunal community in the two mangrove wetlands in Tong＇an Bay, Xiamen, China, and probe the response of meiofauna to high organic matter, sampling was carried out in Fenglin and Xiang＇an mangrove wetlands in the bay. The results showed that the Ne/Co ratio （nematode to benthic copepod） and organic matter in Fenglin mangrove wetland were higher than those in Xiang＇an mangrove wetland. The meiofaunal abundance in Fenglin mangrove was all lower than that in Xiang＇an mangrove wetland in summer, autumn and spring, while the meiofaunal abundance in Fenglin mangrove was higher than that in Xiang＇an mangrove wetland in winter. Two-way ANOVA results showed that the meiofaunal abundance and nematode abundance were significantly different between regions, seasons and regionxseason. With all the results in the present study, we confirmed that the positive response of meiofaunal and nematode abundance were only detected for medium organic matter contents according to the Xiang＇an wetland＇s level, and that the distribution of meiofaunal abundance would be influenced by sand content. Higher copepod abundance and lower N/C value usually suggest better environmental quality.

Impact Analysis of Coastal Engineering Projects on Mangrove Wetland Area Change with Remote Sensing

In the past decades, two large scale coastal engineering projects have been carried out in the Deep Bay surrounded by Shenzhen City and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. One project is Shenzhen River channel regulation and the other is the sea reclamation along the seashore on the Shenzhen side. The two projects are very close to the two national nature reserves, specifically Futian in Shenzhen and Mai Po in Hong Kong, which are important wetland ecosystems worldwide. This paper aims to identify and monitor the mangrove wetland changes with time series of Landsat Thematic Mapper images pre and post to the two engineering projects being launched. Coupled analysis of the image interpretation results and tidal data acquired at the same time in the context of the two works reveals that the mangrove wetland area has increased from year 1989 to 1994, and has changed little from year 1994 to 2002. Binary coding is applied to reveal the distribution image of mangrove at each phase, and the coding image shows that the construction of the two coastal engineering projects has caused frequent changes in mangrove spatial distribution. The study also shows that the change is not significant regarding to the precision of the method and the natural evolution of mangrove wetland, and the projects do not cause apparently influences upon the two national mangrove conservation zones at least for the research time period.

The influence of three mangrove species on the distribution of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in the Quanzhou Bay estuarine wetland soils

This study aims to investigate the effects of region and three regional dominated mangrove species(Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum and Kandelia candel) on the distribution of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus. Measurement of the inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus and enzymatic activities was carried out in soils covered by three mangrove species in the Quanzhou Bay estuarine wetlands, a typical coastal wetland in China.Species with a higher biomass in upstream and midstream absorb more nitrogen from soils, and the retention of the available phosphorus in the soils of different regions causes the regional variation of phosphorus. In areas dominated by A. marina, nitrate nitrogen is lower while available phosphorus is higher. Meanwhile, nitrate nitrogen and available phosphorus are higher in the soils covered by K. candel.Moreover, all three species affect the elemental and enzymic stoichiometry. The mangrove species influences the diversity of the elemental and enzymic stoichiometric relationship through differential microenvironments, which induce the biodiversity of wetland ecosystems. Thus, this study may facilitate a better understanding of the transformation ability of mangroves to nitrogen and phosphorus and will therefore be beneficial for providing a basis for the ecological restoration of estuarine wetlands.

The important role of Turbidity Maximum Zone in sedimentary dynamic of estuarine mangrove swamp

Sedimentation is a key process affecting wetland sustainability and carbon burial flux.In context of sea level rise,climate change and human activities,further understanding about the sedimentary dynamic in wetland is critical in predicting the landscape evolution or the change in carbon burial flux.In this study,based on the field hydrological observation in a mangrove system in the Nanliu River estuary,we found the net flux of suspended sediment to mangrove is 39−72 kg/m in tidal cycles with Turbidity Maximum Zone(TMZ)forming in surface layer and only is 9−18 kg/m in tidal cycles without TMZ.The higher net flux of suspended sediment to mangrove in tidal cycles with TMZ forming in surface layer is attributed to high SSC in rising tide and intense flocculation in mangrove.The significant discrepancy in sedimentation rate in the mangrove patches also can be explained by the probability of TMZ forming in the surface layer of estuary.In future,rapid sea level rising may lead to the change of TMZ pattern in estuary,which will result in non-negligible variation in sedimentation rate in wetlands.According to the present data of sedimentation rate in wetlands,the fragility of wetlands in river estuary may be miscalculated.