Vulnerability of mangroves to sea level rise in Qatar: Assessment and identification of vulnerable mangroves areas

Abstract

Qatar is one of few countries in Arabian Gulf where mangrove ecosystem exist. They are essential number of ecosystem function; however, this valuable ecosystem is threatened by both anthropogenic and global climatic factors. This study is aimed at investigating the vulnerability of mangroves resulting from the rise in sea level. Remote sensing, GIS and soil analysis were used to achieve this assessment. Four main research questions including the change in mangrove area over time, the endangered area by sea level rise, the potentially expected migration area and the management strategies were answered. Thus the first objective of identifying potentially endangered mangrove areas by sea level rise in Qatar and second objective of enhancing the mangrove protection and resilience to sea level rise were achieved. The results of comparative analysis of satellite images show a 50 % increase of the growth of mangrove ecosystems. Comparison of soil within mangrove and outside mangrove area showed the same pH values with slightly different salinity, and similar soil Type. This will positively affect the migration process for existing mangroves. High exposure to sea level rise is estimated from overlaying recent mangrove layer over elevation layers of expected sea level rise scenarios. The result showed that endangered mangrove areas were 35% and 45% with 0.52 m and 0.74 m sea level rise respectively. Outward migration using spatial techniques was observed, while new conservation strategies are recommended to minimize the vulnerability of mangroves.