Watershed scale analyses of land cover change in the contributing upland area of mangrove ecosystems

Mangrove Ecosystems thrive in the tropical transition zones between the land and the sea. These marine ecosystems contribute to the biodiversity of land and ocean habitats at various scales, acting as direct link to biogeochemical cycles of both upland and coastal regions. All of the positive and negative drivers of change of both natural and anthropogenic, within watershed and political boundaries play a role in the health and function of mangroves. As a result, they are among the most rapidly changing landscapes in the Americas; yet, the landscape scale dynamics are not well understood, difficult to measure in cloudy regions, and not operationally monitored at the global scale. This research presents a watershed scale monitoring approach of mangrove ecosystems using datasets that are freely available and techniques that are robust for application at the global scale.