Vulnerability of Mangrove Forests and Wetland Ecosystems in the Sundarbans Natural World Heritage Site (Bangladesh)

Islam, Shafi Noor; Reinstädtler, Sandra; Gnauck, Albrecht

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73016-5_11

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The southwestern part of the region is covered by a dense mangrove forest, known as the Sundarbans, which offers a natural protection to most of the natural disasters, particularly from cyclones developed in the sea [41]. The flora and fauna of the Sundarbans are considered to be a part of the World Heritage sites and are critical for maintaining the ecological well-being of the coastal area [42]. The Sundarbans is one of the most unique mangrove forests in the world and can be highly susceptible to any unplanned land use and land cover changes [43,44].…”

Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The high population density in this region has also led to the exploitation of the newly formed islands (locally known as Chars), an issue which also strongly contributes to LULC changes along the coastal areas of Bangladesh [39]. World Heritage sites and are critical for maintaining the ecological well-being of the coastal area [42]. The Sundarbans is one of the most unique mangrove forests in the world and can be highly susceptible to any unplanned land use and land cover changes [43,44].…”

Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Heterogeneous Coastal Region of Bangladesh between 1990 and 2017

et al. 2019

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Although a detailed analysis of land use and land cover (LULC) change is essential in providing a greater understanding of increased human-environment interactions across the coastal region of Bangladesh, substantial challenges still exist for accurately classifying coastal LULC. This is due to the existence of high-level landscape heterogeneity and unavailability of good quality remotely sensed data. This study, the first of a kind, implemented a unique methodological approach to this challenge. Using freely available Landsat imagery, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost)-based informative feature selection and Random Forest classification is used to elucidate spatio-temporal patterns of LULC across coastal areas over a 28-year period (1990-2017). We show that the XGBoost feature selection approach effectively addresses the issue of high landscape heterogeneity and spectral complexities in the image data, successfully augmenting the RF model performance (providing a mean user’s accuracy > 0.82). Multi-temporal LULC maps reveal that Bangladesh’s coastal areas experienced a net increase in agricultural land (5.44%), built-up (4.91%) and river (4.52%) areas over the past 28 years. While vegetation cover experienced a net decrease (8.26%), an increasing vegetation trend was observed in the years since 2000, primarily due to the Bangladesh government’s afforestation initiatives across the southern coastal belts. These findings provide a comprehensive picture of coastal LULC patterns, which will be useful for policy makers and resource managers to incorporate into coastal land use and environmental management practices. This work also provides useful methodological insights for future research to effectively address the spatial and spectral complexities of remotely sensed data used in classifying the LULC of a heterogeneous landscape.

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Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Heterogeneous Coastal Region of Bangladesh between 1990 and 2017

et al. 2019

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“…Twenty-four true mangroves (including some introduced species) are found within the 4000 ha mangrove forests of Hainan Island alone [ 5 , 6 ]. In comparison, only 19 species have been found in the 140,000 ha mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, Bengal [ 7 , 8 ], and 30 species have been found in the 17,000 ha mangrove area of the Daintree River, Australia [ 9 ]. Notably, mangrove diversity decreases as the latitude increases in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing community-wide DNA barcode references for conserving mangrove forests in China

Mao

Xie

et al. 2021

BMC Plant Biol

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Background Mangrove ecosystems have been the focus of global attention for their crucial role in sheltering coastal communities and retarding global climate change by sequestering ‘blue carbon’. China is relatively rich in mangrove diversity, with one-third of the ca. 70 true mangrove species and a number of mangrove associate species occurring naturally along the country’s coasts. Mangrove ecosystems, however, are widely threatened by intensifying human disturbances and rising sea levels. DNA barcoding technology may help protect mangrove ecosystems by providing rapid species identification. Results To investigate this potential, 898 plant specimens were collected from 33 major mangrove sites in China. Based on the morphologic diagnosis, the specimens were assigned to 72 species, including all 28 true mangrove species and all 12 mangrove associate species recorded in China. Three chloroplast DNA markers rbcL, trnH-psbA, matK, and one nuclear marker ITS2 were chosen to investigate the utility of using barcoding to identify these species. According to the criteria of barcoding gaps in genetic distance, sequence similarity, and phylogenetic monophyly, we propose that a single marker, ITS2, is sufficient to barcode the species of mangroves and their associates in China. Furthermore, rbcL or trnH-psbA can also be used to gather supplement confirming data. In using these barcodes, we revealed a very low level of genetic variation among geographic locations in the mangrove species, which is an alert to their vulnerability to climate and anthropogenic disturbances. Conclusion We suggest using ITS2 to barcode mangrove species and terrestrial coastal plants in South China. The DNA barcode sequences we obtained would be valuable in monitoring biodiversity and the restoration of ecosystems, which are essential for mangrove conservation.

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“…Wetland resources are key to sustainable livelihoods through the process of nutrient and carbon cycles, hydrological cycles, soil-forming dynamics, natural-resource-driven livelihoods, and reducing the vulnerability of crops to pests, disease, drought, and flooding [ 2 , 3 ]. Sundarbans is the most recognized saltwater wetland with a mangrove forest in Bangladesh [ 4 ]. However, Tanguar Haor and Hakaluki Haor are the most remarkable freshwater wetland ecosystems [ 4 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sundarbans is the most recognized saltwater wetland with a mangrove forest in Bangladesh [ 4 ]. However, Tanguar Haor and Hakaluki Haor are the most remarkable freshwater wetland ecosystems [ 4 , 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes of Land Use and Land Cover with the Diversity of Fishes, Aquatic Plants, and Bird’s Species at Wetland Ecosystem

Alam

Bhuiyan

Abdullah

et al. 2021

The Scientific World Journal

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Bangladesh is rich in wetland biodiversity with aquatic plants, fishes, and birds. Mohanganj Upazila is known as the capital of lower Bangladesh. The present study focuses on the changes of land use and land cover (LULC) with a diversity of species that are being least concerned (LC), vulnerable (VU), and endangered (EN). Over the last two decades, the wetland species of Mohanganj were gradually declined. Our results showed that 19 fish, 4 aquatic plants, and 7 bird species were LC in 2015. Among the fish and aquatic plant species, 6 fish species (Wallago attu, Ompok pabda, Channa punctate, Chitala chitala, Salmostoma phulo, and Corica soborna) and 2 aquatic plant species (Nymphaea nouchali and Nymphaea lotus) were VU during the dry and rainy season of 2017 and 2019, respectively. In the dry season of 2019, 4 fish species (W. attu, O. pabda, C. punctate, and Ch. chitala), 2 aquatic plant species (N. nouchali and N. lotus), and 7 bird species (Anas platyrhynchos, Ardeola grayii, Gyps bengalensis, Alcedo atthis, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis, Porphyrio porphyria, and Larus ridibundus) were EN. Among the species, W. attu, N. nouchaii, G. bengalensis, P. porphyria, and L. ridibundus were extremely endangered categories. Changes in LULC, the establishment of settlements for the increasing population, indiscriminate use of pesticides, environmental pollutions, and climate change are the potential reasons for declining trends of wetland biodiversity. Stern actions on land use policy, expansion of organic agriculture, bioremediation of industrial effluents, and adoption of sustainable environmental policies should be taken by the Government of Bangladesh for immediate conservation of wetland biodiversity.

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Vulnerability of Mangrove Forests and Wetland Ecosystems in the Sundarbans Natural World Heritage Site (Bangladesh)

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Heterogeneous Coastal Region of Bangladesh between 1990 and 2017

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Heterogeneous Coastal Region of Bangladesh between 1990 and 2017

Establishing community-wide DNA barcode references for conserving mangrove forests in China

Changes of Land Use and Land Cover with the Diversity of Fishes, Aquatic Plants, and Bird’s Species at Wetland Ecosystem

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