‘The public perception of the role, importance, and vulnerability of seagrass. A case study from the Great Barrier Reef’

Losciale, Riccardo; Hay, Rachel; Rasheed, Michael A.; Heron, Scott F.

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100757

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Without basic information on the distribution and extent of seagrasses, it is hard to assess levels of protection [13]. In comparison to the often spatially associated habitats of coral reefs and mangroves, the presence and services provided by seagrass meadows are generally less recognised by the general public, even in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, where they cover a larger area [14]. Such neglect is a challenge if the seagrasses are to be adequately protected, managed, and restored to avoid further degradation and revert to previous losses [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the National Seagrass Extent in Seychelles Using PlanetScope NICFI Data

Lee,

Martin,

Traganos

et al. 2023

Remote Sensing

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Seagrasses provide ecosystem services worth USD 2.28 trillion annually. However, their direct threats and our incomplete knowledge hamper our capabilities to protect and manage them. This study aims to evaluate if the NICFI Satellite Data Program basemaps could map Seychelles’ extensive seagrass meadows, directly supporting the country’s ambitions to protect this ecosystem. The Seychelles archipelago was divided into three geographical regions. Half-yearly basemaps from 2015 to 2020 were combined using an interval mean of the 10th percentile and median before land and deep water masking. Additional features were produced using the Depth Invariant Index, Normalised Differences, and segmentation. With 80% of the reference data, an initial Random Forest followed by a variable importance analysis was performed. Only the top ten contributing features were retained for a second classification, which was validated with the remaining 20%. The best overall accuracies across the three regions ranged between 69.7% and 75.7%. The biggest challenges for the NICFI basemaps are its four-band spectral resolution and uncertainties owing to sampling bias. As part of a nationwide seagrass extent and blue carbon mapping project, the estimates herein will be combined with ancillary satellite data and contribute to a full national estimate in a near-future report. However, the numbers reported showcase the broader potential for using NICFI basemaps for seagrass mapping at scale.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%