US EPA

3298837 

Book/Book Chapter 

Mangrove Changes Analysis by Remote Sensing and Evaluation of Ecosystem Service Value in Sungai Merbok's Mangrove Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia 

Khuzaimah, Z; Ismail, MH; Mansor, S 

2013 

Lecture Notes in Computer Science 

7972 

611-622 

WOS:000335143000044 

Mangrove forests are an important ecosystem which provides
socioeconomic value to humankind. Despite their great value, mangroves have one of the highest
rates of degradation of any global habitat, which is about 1% of the existing area per year. In
fact, the socioeconomic value and ecosystem services of mangroves as a natural product are
underestimated. The ecosystem services provided by mangroves are often ignored by the ongoing
process of mangrove conversion. This is a major reason why conservation of this ecosystem is not
a popular alternative. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the changes in
mangrove forests and valuation of their ecosystem services. SPOT 5 imageries of years 2000 and
2010 have been used for change detection analysis. The vegetation index such as NDVI and AVI and
unsupervised classification technique were employed in image processing. In order to obtain the
value of socioeconomic impact from the mangrove changes and biodiversity disturbances, the
ecosystem service valuation (ESV) model was applied. Results show that the total value of the
existing mangrove forest ecosystem service was RM1,901,859.84. The value per unit area is about
RM 1,650.92 /ha. The total values of others were RM161, 33.2 (crop land) and RM3,107,500 (water
bodies), respectively. It is evident that Sungai Merbok's Mangrove Forest Reserve is very
important for coastal ecology, where the orientation of mangrove ecosystem is huge and serves to
provide essential services for the community. It also plays a crucial role in providing
ecological balance to the coastal environment. 

Mangrove; ecosystem service valuation; changes detection; remote sensing