Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

2012

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Geography

First Advisor

Darrell Napton

Abstract

High population pressures placed on mangrove forests from land use competition have resulted in extensive deforestation and degradation in recent decades. The environmental impacts of these human activities are prevalent in the Philippines' degraded coastal mangrove forests. The primary objective of this study was to accurately map the spatial distribution and quantify changes in area of the Philippines' mangrove forests from 1990 to 2010 to better understand changing land cover and land use dynamics. A supervised classification technique was performed on moderate resolution Landsat imagery to map the spatio-temporal dynamics of the Philippines' mangrove ecosystems. In total, mangrove area in the Philippines decreased 26,163 ha (9.7 percent) during the study period. This study provides the most current, accurate, and reliable data regarding the Philippines mangrove extent and spatial distribution, and examines where, why, and when mangrove loss has occurred in recent decades.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Mangrove forests -- Philippines
Forest mapping -- Philippines
Land use mapping -- Philippines
Landscape changes -- Philippines 

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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Rights Statement

In Copyright