A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Thomas A. Worthington; Philine S.E. zu Ermgassen; Daniel A. Friess; Ken W. Krauss; Catherine E. Lovelock; Julia Thorley; Rick Tingey; Colin D. Woodroffe; Pete Bunting; Nicole Cormier; David Lagomasino; Richard Lucas; Nicholas J. Murray; William J. Sutherland; Mark Spalding

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5

A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Thomas A. Worthington^*, Philine S.E. zu Ermgassen, Daniel A. Friess, Ken W. Krauss, Catherine E. Lovelock, Julia Thorley, Rick Tingey, Colin D. Woodroffe, Pete Bunting, Nicole Cormier, David Lagomasino, Richard Lucas, Nicholas J. Murray, William J. Sutherland, Mark Spalding

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Geography and Earth Sciences

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Abstract

Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km²) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km²) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km²) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km²). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global coverage. Our typology provides a basis for future research to incorporate geomorphic and sedimentary setting in analyses. We present two examples of such applications. Firstly, based on change in extent between 1996 and 2016, we show while all types exhibited considerable declines in area, losses of lagoonal mangroves (− 6.9%) were nearly twice that of other types. Secondly, we quantify differences in aboveground biomass between mangroves of different types, with it being significantly lower in lagoonal mangroves. Overall, our biophysical typology provides a baseline for assessing restoration potential and for quantifying mangrove ecosystem service provision.

Original language	English
Article number	14652
Number of pages	11
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	10
Issue number	1
Early online date	04 Sept 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5
Publication status	Published - 01 Dec 2020

Keywords

Biomass
Carbon/analysis
Carbonates/analysis
Climate Change
Conservation of Natural Resources
Geologic Sediments/chemistry
Soil/chemistry
Wetlands

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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ArticleFinal published version, 3.65 MBLicence: CC BY
Supplementary Information Final published version, 589 KBLicence: CC BY

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Worthington, T. A., zu Ermgassen, P. S. E., Friess, D. A., Krauss, K. W., Lovelock, C. E., Thorley, J., Tingey, R., Woodroffe, C. D., Bunting, P., Cormier, N., Lagomasino, D., Lucas, R., Murray, N. J., Sutherland, W. J., & Spalding, M. (2020). A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 14652. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5

@article{1b106ede019049c9be53943748d25f79,

title = "A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation",

abstract = "Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world{\textquoteright}s most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km2) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km2) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km2) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km2). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global coverage. Our typology provides a basis for future research to incorporate geomorphic and sedimentary setting in analyses. We present two examples of such applications. Firstly, based on change in extent between 1996 and 2016, we show while all types exhibited considerable declines in area, losses of lagoonal mangroves (− 6.9%) were nearly twice that of other types. Secondly, we quantify differences in aboveground biomass between mangroves of different types, with it being significantly lower in lagoonal mangroves. Overall, our biophysical typology provides a baseline for assessing restoration potential and for quantifying mangrove ecosystem service provision.",

keywords = "Biomass, Carbon/analysis, Carbonates/analysis, Climate Change, Conservation of Natural Resources, Geologic Sediments/chemistry, Soil/chemistry, Wetlands",

author = "Worthington, {Thomas A.} and {zu Ermgassen}, {Philine S.E.} and Friess, {Daniel A.} and Krauss, {Ken W.} and Lovelock, {Catherine E.} and Julia Thorley and Rick Tingey and Woodroffe, {Colin D.} and Pete Bunting and Nicole Cormier and David Lagomasino and Richard Lucas and Murray, {Nicholas J.} and Sutherland, {William J.} and Mark Spalding",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Tom Spencer and Emma Garnett (University of Cambridge) for early input on the manuscript. TW and MS were supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) funded by The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. WJS is funded by Arcadia. NJM was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award DE190100101. PB and RML were supported to provide the GMW data layers by JAXA through the Kyoto and Carbon Initiative, DOB Ecology through the Mangrove Capital Africa project and the RCUK NERC Newton project NE/P014127/1. SuperComputing Wales provided the computing facility on which the GMW data were analysed. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5",

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Worthington, TA, zu Ermgassen, PSE, Friess, DA, Krauss, KW, Lovelock, CE, Thorley, J, Tingey, R, Woodroffe, CD, Bunting, P, Cormier, N, Lagomasino, D, Lucas, R, Murray, NJ, Sutherland, WJ & Spalding, M 2020, 'A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation', Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 1, 14652. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

AU - Worthington, Thomas A.

AU - zu Ermgassen, Philine S.E.

AU - Friess, Daniel A.

AU - Krauss, Ken W.

AU - Lovelock, Catherine E.

AU - Thorley, Julia

AU - Tingey, Rick

AU - Woodroffe, Colin D.

AU - Bunting, Pete

AU - Cormier, Nicole

AU - Lagomasino, David

AU - Lucas, Richard

AU - Murray, Nicholas J.

AU - Sutherland, William J.

AU - Spalding, Mark

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Tom Spencer and Emma Garnett (University of Cambridge) for early input on the manuscript. TW and MS were supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) funded by The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. WJS is funded by Arcadia. NJM was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award DE190100101. PB and RML were supported to provide the GMW data layers by JAXA through the Kyoto and Carbon Initiative, DOB Ecology through the Mangrove Capital Africa project and the RCUK NERC Newton project NE/P014127/1. SuperComputing Wales provided the computing facility on which the GMW data were analysed. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s).

PY - 2020/12/1

Y1 - 2020/12/1

N2 - Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km2) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km2) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km2) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km2). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global coverage. Our typology provides a basis for future research to incorporate geomorphic and sedimentary setting in analyses. We present two examples of such applications. Firstly, based on change in extent between 1996 and 2016, we show while all types exhibited considerable declines in area, losses of lagoonal mangroves (− 6.9%) were nearly twice that of other types. Secondly, we quantify differences in aboveground biomass between mangroves of different types, with it being significantly lower in lagoonal mangroves. Overall, our biophysical typology provides a baseline for assessing restoration potential and for quantifying mangrove ecosystem service provision.

AB - Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km2) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km2) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km2) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km2). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global coverage. Our typology provides a basis for future research to incorporate geomorphic and sedimentary setting in analyses. We present two examples of such applications. Firstly, based on change in extent between 1996 and 2016, we show while all types exhibited considerable declines in area, losses of lagoonal mangroves (− 6.9%) were nearly twice that of other types. Secondly, we quantify differences in aboveground biomass between mangroves of different types, with it being significantly lower in lagoonal mangroves. Overall, our biophysical typology provides a baseline for assessing restoration potential and for quantifying mangrove ecosystem service provision.

KW - Biomass

KW - Carbon/analysis

KW - Carbonates/analysis

KW - Climate Change

KW - Conservation of Natural Resources

KW - Geologic Sediments/chemistry

KW - Soil/chemistry

KW - Wetlands

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SN - 2045-2322

VL - 10

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 14652

ER -

A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Pete Bunting

Monitoring Mangrove Extent and Services (MOMENTS): What is controlling Tipping Points?

Supercomputing Wales

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A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Profiles

Pete Bunting

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Monitoring Mangrove Extent and Services (MOMENTS): What is controlling Tipping Points?

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Supercomputing Wales

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