Murray Nicholas J, Worthington Thomas A, Bunting Pete, Duce Stephanie, Hagger Valerie, Lovelock Catherine E, Lucas Richard, Saunders Megan I, Sheaves Marcus, Spalding Mark, Waltham Nathan J, Lyons Mitchell B
College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Science. 2022 May 13;376(6594):744-749. doi: 10.1126/science.abm9583. Epub 2022 May 12.
Tidal wetlands are expected to respond dynamically to global environmental change, but the extent to which wetland losses have been offset by gains remains poorly understood. We developed a global analysis of satellite data to simultaneously monitor change in three highly interconnected intertidal ecosystem types-tidal flats, tidal marshes, and mangroves-from 1999 to 2019. Globally, 13,700 square kilometers of tidal wetlands have been lost, but these have been substantially offset by gains of 9700 km, leading to a net change of -4000 km over two decades. We found that 27% of these losses and gains were associated with direct human activities such as conversion to agriculture and restoration of lost wetlands. All other changes were attributed to indirect drivers, including the effects of coastal processes and climate change.
潮汐湿地预计会对全球环境变化做出动态响应，但湿地损失被增益抵消的程度仍知之甚少。我们开展了一项全球卫星数据分析，以同时监测1999年至2019年三种高度相互关联的潮间带生态系统类型——潮滩、潮汐沼泽和红树林——的变化。在全球范围内，13700平方公里的潮汐湿地已经消失，但这些损失已被9700平方公里的增益大幅抵消，导致二十年间净变化为-4000平方公里。我们发现，这些损失和增益的27%与直接人类活动有关，如转为农业用途和恢复失去的湿地。所有其他变化都归因于间接驱动因素，包括海岸过程和气候变化的影响。
