Using mangroves as a geological indicator of coastal changes in the Bragança macrotidal flat, Brazilian Amazon: A remote sensing data approach

A mangrove ecosystem shows close links between geomorphology and vegetation assemblage. In addition, the vegetation can change over time as landforms can accrete or erode, which is a direct response to coastal sedimentary processes. This demonstrates that significant changes can occur on short time scales and mangroves provide an excellent register of these modifications. Therefore, mangrove morphology and sedimentation are good indicators of interactions between relative sea level changes, coastal processes and sediment supply. These interactions are responsible for landward migration of the shoreline (erosion) and seaward migration of the shoreline (accretion), which is possible to detect from multi-date satellite data and field observations. Mangroves are one of the best geo-indicators in global coastal change research and they are an excellent procedure to detect and quantify coastal modifications.