Naslov
Spatially Explicit Seagrass Extent Mapping Across the Entire Mediterranean

Autori
Traganos, Dimosthenis ; Lee, Chengfa Benjamin ; Blume, Alina ; Poursanidis, Dimitris ; Čižmek, Hrvoje ; Deter, Julie ; Mačić, Vesna ; Montefalcone, Monica ; Pergent, Gérard ; Pergent-Martini, Christine ; Ricart, Aurora M. ; Reinartz, Peter

Izvornik
Frontiers in Marine Science (2296-7745) 9 (2022); 871799, 13

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Mediterranean, Sentinel-2, Posidonia oceanica, Coastal ecosystem accounting, Google Earth EngineSeagrass, Earth Observation, Blue Carbon

Sažetak
The seagrass Posidonia oceanica is the main habitat- forming species of the coastalMediterranean, providing millennial-scale ecosystem services including habitatprovisioning, biodiversity maintenance, food security, coastal protection, and carbonsequestration. Meadows of this endemic seagrass species represent the largest carbonstorage among seagrasses around the world, largely contributing to global blue carbonstocks. Yet, the slow growth of this temperate species and the extreme projectedtemperature and sea-level rise due to climate change increase the risk of reduction andloss of these services. Currently, there are knowledge gaps in its basin-wide spatiallyexplicit extent and relevant accounting, therefore accurate and efficient mapping of itsdistribution and trajectories of change is needed. Here, we leveraged contemporaryadvances in Earth Observation—cloud computing, open satellite data, and machinelearning— with field observations through a cloud-native geoprocessing framework toaccount the spatially explicit ecosystem extent of P. oceanica seagrass across its fullbioregional scale. Employing 279, 186 Sentinel-2 satellite images between 2015 and2019, and a human-labeled training dataset of 62, 928 pixels, we mapped 19, 020 km2 ofP. oceanica meadows up to 25 m of depth in 22 Mediterranean countries, across a totalseabed area of 56, 783 km2. Using 2, 480 independent, field-based points, we observean overall accuracy of 72%. We include and discuss global and region-specific seagrassblue carbon stocks using our bioregional seagrass extent estimate. As reference datacollections, remote sensing technology and biophysical modelling improve and coalesce, such spatial ecosystem extent accounts could further support physical and monetaryaccounting of seagrass condition and ecosystem services, like blue carbon and coastalbiodiversity. We envisage that effective policy uptake of these holistic seagrass accountsin national climate strategies and financing could accelerate transparent natural climatesolutions and coastal resilience, far beyond the physical location of seagrass beds.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija, Interdisciplinarne prirodne znanosti, Interdisciplinarne biotehničke znanosti

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