モーリシャスにおけるマングローブの地上検証済み国家地図帳：空間的ベースライン、ブルーカーボンの重要性、小島嶼開発途上国における気候レジリエンスへの示唆

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a methodological template for field-validated mangrove mapping and carbon estimation in data-sparse SIDS contexts.

🏢実務担当者:Offers a spatial baseline for restoration prioritization and blue carbon project development in Mauritius and similar island states.

🏛政策担当者:Demonstrates the value of national ecological atlases for climate resilience planning and blue carbon accounting in national climate commitments.

Mangroves provide coastal protection, nursery habitat, nutrient retention and long-term carbon storage, yet national-scale mangrove information remains incomplete in many Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where forests are often narrow, fragmented and difficult to resolve using medium-resolution satellite products alone. This study presents a comprehensive national mangrove atlas for mainland Mauritius, developed from island-wide ground surveys, GPS-referenced site documentation, manually digitised mangrove polygons and district-level geospatial synthesis. Mangrove coverage maps were baseline-validated using 2019 field data and Google Earth Pro imagery. Subsequent 2026 update integrated latest available remote sensing data with sporadic field-truthing visits. The atlas identifies 244.5 ha (~2.445 km²) of mangroves distributed across the seven coastal districts, with strong spatial concentration in the eastern coastal areas, namely, Riviere du Rempart and surrounding islets (~92.80 ha; ~38.0%), Flacq and surrounding islets (~60.62 ha; ~24.8%) and Grand Port (~55.73 ha; ~22.8%). Boundary sensitivity analysis produced an indicative boundary-derived area envelope of ±24.9 ha (~10.2%). Field validation confirmed that mangroves occur as estuarine stands, lagoon fringes, hypersaline or saltpan-associated patches, islet mangals and restored stands. The atlas provides a reproducible spatial baseline for environmental impact assessment, restoration prioritisation, post-disaster monitoring and future national blue carbon accounting. We show that field-validated ecological atlases remain essential scientific infrastructure for SIDS, where mangrove systems are small in area but disproportionately important for coastal resilience and climate governance. Recent mapping upgrade indicates that the mapped mangrove extent increased by ~12.81% as compared to data captured in 2019. Using stable, mature stands as a predictive proxy, the mangrove extent yields an overall screening-level estimate of approximately 21,829.3 t AGB, corresponding to ~33,617.5 t CO₂e, and ~10,234.3 t BGB, corresponding to ~15,775.2 t CO₂e. Surface sediment carbon was estimated separately at ~0.25 t organic C per tonne of surface sediment, corresponding to ~0.71 t CO₂e.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1590/2675-2824074.26053first seen 2026-09-03 05:14:27