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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Informatics and Remote Sensing
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1439425

Mangroves Trend and Dynamics and Their Impact on Surface Temperature in Marine Protected Areas, Al-Wajh Lagoon: A Study Aligned with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030

Provisionally accepted
Asma A. Al-huqail Asma A. Al-huqail 1Zubairul Islam Zubairul Islam 2*Hanan F. Al-Harbi Hanan F. Al-Harbi 1
  • 1 Chair of Climate Change, Environmental Development and Vegetation Cover, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science., King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mangrove ecosystems are vital to arid environments like Saudi Arabia, offering crucial ecological services and enhancing biodiversity. This study investigates the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of mangrove coverage in the Al Wajh lagoon area, crucial for crafting effective conservation and management strategies. Employing high-resolution Landsat and Sentinel imagery, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) were analysed across 35 mangrove clusters. By 2023, mangroves covered approximately 24.5 km². Kendall Tau-b Correlation Coefficients confirmed a significant positive trend. The study further explored the relationship between NDVI and surface temperature, revealing an inverse correlation with slope values ranging from -4.03 to -44.1, suggesting that increased mangrove coverage significantly contributes to local cooling, thereby underscoring the climate regulation benefits of mangrove conservation. This positive change in NDVI post-2020 is directly attributable to the conservation efforts embedded within the Red Sea Project, Vision 2030, development phases, demonstrating the critical role of designated conservation zones in mitigating the environmental impacts of large-scale development projects. The findings underscore the need for targeted policies to protect and expand mangrove habitats as part of broader environmental sustainability goals in the region.

    Keywords: NDVI, LST, trend analysis, Kendall's Tau-b, Mangroves, protected areas

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 01 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Al-huqail, Islam and Al-Harbi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zubairul Islam, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

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