University of Twente Student Theses
Mangrove Habitat Suitability Assessment Framework
Belkacem, L. (2024) Mangrove Habitat Suitability Assessment Framework.
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| Abstract: | This report represents the development of an assessment framework for mangrove habitat suitability. The causes of mangrove degradation and the factors influencing the success and failure of mangrove restoration are examined. Through the analysis of these factors and additional research, the key parameters for mangrove habitat suitability such as stressors and optimal conditions for mangrove growth will be identified. The report focuses on four mangrove species: Sonneratia alba, Avicennia marina, Rhizophora mangle, and Ceriops tagal. The methodology of the report is a combination of a literature review, expert interviews, and the development of an assessment framework. The assessment framework integrates various parameters identified through a literature review, expert weightings on these parameters, and a scoring system to assess mangrove habitat suitability. The assessment framework can evaluate sites for mangrove survival and growth considering environmental, socio-economic, and institutional factors emphasizing the impact of environmental factors like salinity and temperature on mangrove health, as well as human activities and regulations. The literature review identified a wide range of parameters critical for mangrove environments, including environmental, socio-economic, and institutional ones. Environmental parameters were categorized into chemical (salinity, pH, nutrients availability), physical (temperature, rainfall, inundation, wave action, sediment, soil type), and ecological (food web, ecosystem connectivity, seedling availability) aspects. Socio-economic factors covered sustainable use, community engagement, and upstream disturbance, while institutional parameters focused on the existence and enforcement of mangrove conservation laws. Additionally, each parameter range gets a score from 0 to 10 based on how favorable they were for the specific mangrove species, with 10 indicating the most favorable conditions. Furthermore, the weighting system involves input from experts who assign weights to each parameter based on their importance for mangrove survival and growth. In the expert interviews, significant weight was assigned to environmental factors as key determinants of mangrove survival and growth. Experts particularly emphasized on the importance of parameters like inundation duration, wave action, and enforcement of laws due to their substantial impact on mangrove health and conservation. Conversely, the importance of connectivity to other species was regarded as less important in the direct context of mangrove health and development. The developed assessment framework is designed to assess the suitability of a site for mangrove habitat based on user-provided characteristics of the site. The model has a threshold for critical factors like inundation duration and temperature; if these thresholds are exceeded, indicating potentially harmful conditions, the assessment concludes that the assessment is not possible. Users also have the option to select “No Available Data” for certain parameters. However, if the cumulative weight of parameters without data exceeds a 10% threshold, the model indicates that a reliable assessment is not possible due to significant data gaps. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Programme: | Civil Engineering BSc (56952) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/98169 |
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