Land Use
Integrated mangrove-shrimp cultivation: Potential for blue carbon sequestrationBackgroundMangrove deforestation and degradation have increased due to the growth of shrimp farming in tropical coastal environments. This has serious implications for global climate change mitigation, since mangroves are the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics, and converting mangroves into aquaculture ponds increases blue carbon emissions. Integrated mangrove-shrimp cultivation systems can help to prevent mangrove loss and curb blue carbon emissions through pairing shrimp aquaculture with mangrove restoration. Open access copy available |
Effects of different management regimes on mangrove ecosystem services in Java, IndonesiaBackgroundIndonesia’s mangrove forests have decreased from 4.5 million hectares (ha) to under 3 million ha since the 1980s, largely due to the lack of monetary value attributed to mangrove ecosystem services, leading to conversion into aquaculture. Developing a valuation system for mangroves that includes both economically valuable products (i.e., timber, food) and ecosystem services allows decision makers to better assess the impacts of management decisions on the important ecosystem services and properties provided by mangroves. Open access copy available |
Integrated mangrove aquaculture: The sustainable choice for mangroves and aquaculture?BackgroundOpen access copy available |
Conservation for production? The benefits of mangroves for sustainable shrimp aquacultureBackgroundIncreasing shrimp demand and declining annual shrimp harvests threaten mangroves in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, due to deforestation from shrimp aquaculture expansion. Silvofishery practices that combine shrimp aquaculture with mangrove conservation are promoted to prevent further mangrove deforestation while still protecting the shrimp farming industry. Mangrove ecosystem services are essential for aquaculture systems to thrive, so it is important to determine successful biophysical elements of silvofishery systems to encourage the development of more sustainable aquaculture practices. Open access copy available |
Taking the pulse of Earth’s tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plotsBackgroundTropical forests play a critical but complex role in global carbon cycling, biodiversity conservation, and climate regulation. These complex dynamics are due to spatial heterogeneity and varying disturbance regimes. Traditional monitoring approaches often rely on remote sensing, which may not capture fine-scale ecological processes. In response, global scientific collaborations have developed extensive forest plot networks to monitor forest structure, biomass, and ecological changes over time. These distributed plots provide high-resolution, ground-based insights into tropical forest conditions across continents. Open access copy available |
Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropicsBackgroundTropical moist forests are essential for biodiversity, climate regulation, and global carbon storage, yet they face increasing pressure from deforestation and degradation. Accurate, long-term monitoring of forest dynamics is necessary to support climate policies, including REDD+ and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Previous studies have provided partial insights, but a comprehensive spatial and temporal characterization of forest degradation and recovery remains limited. Advances in satellite imagery and cloud computing now enable consistent monitoring at pantropical scales. Open access copy available |
Belize National Forest Monitoring System 2001-2020BackgroundBelize’s diverse ecosystems, land tenure systems, and land-use dynamics require a robust and flexible National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS). Early efforts focused on establishing permanent forest inventory plots in the late 1990s to address data gaps in forest structure and carbon dynamics. Over time, Belize has expanded its forest monitoring framework to integrate both ground-based and remote sensing approaches, ensuring transparency, consistency, and national ownership of forest data systems. Open access copy available |
Framework for National Forest Monitoring SystemBackgroundOpen access copy available |
National forest monitoring system assessment tool – Quick guidanceBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Near real-time monitoring of tropical forest disturbance by fusion of Landsat, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1 dataBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
