TY - JOUR
T1 - Applying an integrated approach to coastal marine habitat mapping in the north-western United Arab Emirates
AU - Mateos-Molina, Daniel
AU - Antonopoulou, Marina
AU - Baldwin, Rob
AU - Bejarano, Ivonne
AU - Burt, John A.
AU - García-Charton, Jose A.
AU - Al-Ghais, Saif M.
AU - Walgamage, Jayanthi
AU - Taylor, Oliver J.S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this work was provided by the Emirates Nature – World Wide Fund in the UAE. This work would not have been possible without the close cooperation with local and federal environmental authorities in the study area: Ajman Municipality, Ras Al Khaimah Environment Protection and Development Authority, Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Umm Al Quwain Municipality and Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. We thank Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) for its support, specially to Jane Glavan for offering their expert advice and for providing valuable ground-truthing. We also thank Distant Imagery for their support in the aerial drone surveys, and Dubai Space Center for providing the DubaiSat-2 satellite imagery. In addition, we are grateful to all the participant who assist in the fieldwork, spatially Elayne Looker, Joonas Kinni, Jimena Rodriguez, Manya Ruso, Roxanne Whelan and Fadi Mohammad Akram. Thank to Shaikha Hassan Ali Al Shehhi, Dr. Sabir Muzzafar, Moaz Hamza and Yasser Othman for their inputs in the project design, workshops, advice and logistics. Finally, our special acknowledgement to Ajman and Sharjah fishermen cooperatives for contributing their knowledge on habitats that supported our scientific work.
Funding Information:
Funding for this work was provided by the Emirates Nature – World Wide Fund in the UAE. This work would not have been possible without the close cooperation with local and federal environmental authorities in the study area: Ajman Municipality, Ras Al Khaimah Environment Protection and Development Authority, Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Umm Al Quwain Municipality and Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. We thank Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) for its support, specially to Jane Glavan for offering their expert advice and for providing valuable ground-truthing. We also thank Distant Imagery for their support in the aerial drone surveys, and Dubai Space Center for providing the DubaiSat-2 satellite imagery. In addition, we are grateful to all the participant who assist in the fieldwork, spatially Elayne Looker, Joonas Kinni, Jimena Rodriguez, Manya Ruso, Roxanne Whelan and Fadi Mohammad Akram. Thank to Shaikha Hassan Ali Al Shehhi, Dr. Sabir Muzzafar, Moaz Hamza and Yasser Othman for their inputs in the project design, workshops, advice and logistics. Finally, our special acknowledgement to Ajman and Sharjah fishermen cooperatives for contributing their knowledge on habitats that supported our scientific work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Habitat mapping is essential for the management and conservation of coastal marine habitats. However, accurate and up-to-date habitat maps are rarely available for the marine realm. In this study, we mapped the coastal marine habitats of >400 km of coastline in the north-western United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a combination of data sources including remote sensing, extensive ground-truthing points, local expert knowledge and existing information. We delineated 17 habitats, including critical habitats for marine biodiversity such as coral reefs and mangroves, and previously unreported oyster beds and deep seagrasses. This innovative approach was able to produce a coastal marine habitat map with an overall accuracy of 77%. The approach allowed for the production of a spatial tool well-suited for the needs of environmental management and conservation in a previously data-deficient area of the United Arab Emirates.
AB - Habitat mapping is essential for the management and conservation of coastal marine habitats. However, accurate and up-to-date habitat maps are rarely available for the marine realm. In this study, we mapped the coastal marine habitats of >400 km of coastline in the north-western United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a combination of data sources including remote sensing, extensive ground-truthing points, local expert knowledge and existing information. We delineated 17 habitats, including critical habitats for marine biodiversity such as coral reefs and mangroves, and previously unreported oyster beds and deep seagrasses. This innovative approach was able to produce a coastal marine habitat map with an overall accuracy of 77%. The approach allowed for the production of a spatial tool well-suited for the needs of environmental management and conservation in a previously data-deficient area of the United Arab Emirates.
KW - Coastal marine habitats
KW - Data integration
KW - Habitat mapping
KW - Innovative
KW - Integrated approach
KW - Local ecological knowledge
KW - United Arab Emirates
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090245706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85090245706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105095
DO - 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105095
M3 - Article
C2 - 32882590
AN - SCOPUS:85090245706
SN - 0141-1136
VL - 161
JO - Marine Environmental Research
JF - Marine Environmental Research
M1 - 105095
ER -