School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
Biol Lett. 2018 Nov 28;14(11):20180227. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0227.
Knowledge of seagrass distribution is limited to a few well-studied sites and poor where resources are scant (e.g. Africa), hence global estimates of seagrass carbon storage are inaccurate. Here, we analysed freely available Sentinel-2 and Landsat imagery to quantify contemporary coverage and change in seagrass between 1986 and 2016 on Kenya's coast. Using field surveys and independent estimates of historical seagrass, we estimate total cover of Kenya's seagrass to be 317.1 ± 27.2 km, following losses of 0.85% yr since 1986. Losses increased from 0.29% yr in 2000 to 1.59% yr in 2016, releasing up to 2.17 Tg carbon since 1986. Anecdotal evidence suggests fishing pressure is an important cause of loss and is likely to intensify in the near future. If these results are representative for Africa, global estimates of seagrass extent and loss need reconsidering.
有关海草分布的知识仅限于少数几个研究充分的地点，而在资源匮乏的地区（例如非洲）则知之甚少，因此全球范围内对海草碳储量的估计并不准确。在这里，我们分析了免费提供的 Sentinel-2 和 Landsat 图像，以量化 1986 年至 2016 年间肯尼亚沿海海草的当代覆盖范围和变化。通过实地调查和对历史海草的独立估计，我们估计肯尼亚海草的总覆盖率为 317.1 ± 27.2 公里，自 1986 年以来每年损失 0.85%。自 2000 年以来，损失率从每年 0.29%增加到 2016 年的 1.59%，自 1986 年以来已释放了多达 2.17 公吨的碳。传闻证据表明，渔业压力是造成损失的一个重要原因，而且这种压力很可能在不久的将来加剧。如果这些结果能代表非洲的情况，那么就需要重新考虑全球范围内对海草范围和损失的估计。
