Browsing by Subject "Coastal management"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    An Analysis Comparing Mangrove Conditions under Different Management Scenarios in Southeast Asia
    (2017-04-27) Shi, Congjie
    Mangroves in Phang Nga Bay, Thailand and in Matang Mangrove Reserve, Malaysia serve a variety of crucial ecosystem services. However, they are threatened by various natural and human-influenced factors such as tsunami damage and development in recent decades. This project provides a look at how distribution and status of mangrove forests have changed over time and how mangrove health changes over time. Selected Landsat 5 TM images from 2000 to 2010 were analyzed to classify the land use changes by object-oriented method using feature extraction and by supervised classification. The expansion in urban development and agriculture is concerning for both Thailand and Malaysia according to the literature review (Gopal and Chauhan 2006; Giri et al. 2008). The Phang Nga Bay mangroves experienced significant 6.3% decline from 2003 to 2010 according to the supervised classification with tasseled-cap transformation. The Matang mangroves experienced a 3.95% decline from 2000 to 2010 according to the supervised classification. Although these mangroves are declining at a slower rate than the reported national and global average, the rate of decrease is still concerning compare to other Southeast Asian mangroves. We also examined the overall characteristics such as EVI, NDVI, GPP, and NDWI using Google Earth Engine to compare the overall patterns in the two study areas. There is no significant difference in EVI between the two study areas. The EVI value is 0.54 for the site in Thailand and 0.52 for the site in Malaysia. NDVI is higher for mangroves in the Thai site (0.61) than the Malaysian site (0.42). Mangroves at the Malaysian site has higher GPP and NDWI. The mean GPP for the site in Malaysia is 354 kg*C/m^2, while the mean GPP is only 217 kg*C/m^2 for the site in Thailand. The trend in GPP can be fit into an ARIMA(1, 0, 1)*(1, 0, 0)46 model for the Thai site and an ARIMA(2, 0, 1)*(1, 0, 0)46 model for the Malaysia site. The NDWI values are 0.149 and 0.137 for the Malaysian site and the Thai site correspondingly. The derived indices (tasseled cap, NDVI, and SAVI) were used to classify the mangrove areas into subclasses. An EO-1 Hyperion imagery from 2014 was examined to classify mangrove types in the Thai study area. We were able to classify mangroves into edge, island, riverine, estuary, and inland types based on the good spectral bands. A spectral library for the region or field data is necessary for more exact species classification. In terms of management, the local conservation departments and national park services in Thailand need to reach out more frequently to the local community and educate the fishermen and hoteliers about the ecosystem services of mangroves. It can be worthwhile for Matang forest managers to test the mixed block method with managed and natural mangrove patches to sustain biodiversity and ecological function of mangrove forests.
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    Are CAMA Land-Use Plans Protecting Coastal Resources? An Evaluation of North Carolina’s Coastal Planning Requirement
    (2010-12-09) Bruce, Jennifer
    North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) was created in 1974 to “establish a comprehensive plan for the protection, preservation, orderly development, and management of the coastal area.” One of CAMA’s key tools for managing coastal lands is a state-mandated land-use planning process, which tries to incentivize environmental protection through required analyses, planning exercises, and policy creation. The goal of this study was to determine the degree to which the CAMA planning requirement encourages counties to think critically about their environmental resources and plan strategically for future development. This report evaluates the effectiveness of the CAMA planning requirement through two main analyses: a critical review of plan content and quality using case studies from Carteret, Dare, and Gates Counties; and a social survey to assess current opinions and usage of CAMA land-use plans by county officials and planning employees. Plan evaluation results showed that while counties excelled at data assessments of current infrastructure and environmental resources, the application of environmental analyses into responsible development planning fell short. Plan policies were typically weak and unenforceable, and rarely exceeded state and federal standards. Survey results communicated overall satisfaction with the planning requirement, and noted that the process does encourage counties to consider environmental resources but additional protection is still needed. This report concludes that the required environmental inventories and suitability analyses are the most beneficial aspects of the planning process, and encourages the State to dedicate future efforts towards expanding these elements and providing more localized data assistance and guidance.
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    Natural Resource Management at South Topsail Beach, NC
    (2007-08-31T19:43:12Z) Wright, Katherine
    The undeveloped southern tip of Topsail Island, NC, known as South Topsail Beach, has been accreting land and extending southwest into New Topsail Inlet at the rate of approximately 100 feet per year for the past decade, growing to its current size of roughly 135 acres. The dynamic coastal processes that dominate this landscape create habitat that the federally threatened shorebird the piping plover (Charadrius melodus), the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and the annual plant seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus) depend on for survival. Human disturbance and loss of habitat due to shoreline stabilization are among the biggest threats to success of these species throughout their habitat range. This Masters Project, in the form of a management plan, seeks to address the needs of these threatened species, while allowing for traditional and passive recreational uses at South Topsail Beach. In an effort to better understand shoreline change at this location, and to inform management recommendations for South Topsail Beach, a geospatial analysis using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) data was performed. Areas of erosion and accretion on both sides of New Topsail Inlet were identified and volumetric change was calculated for the years 1996 through 2005. Beach profiles were created to more closely examine spatial changes. Monitoring shoreline change over time can be used as a management tool to indicate habitat size and quality on a local level. On a broader scale, this type of analysis may be used to identify additional undeveloped dynamic inlet habitat appropriate for conservation.
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    Whose Boat is this Boat? Managing Abandoned and Derelict Vessels in Oriental, North Carolina
    (2021-04-26) Wellbaum, Emma
    The Town of Oriental is a waterfront boating community in Pamlico County, North Carolina that struggles with managing abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) absent a state or local mechanism for removal and enforcement. While these forgotten and broken down boats pose a number of problems for coastal communities, the environment, and the economy, North Carolina law has not historically provided local governments with clear legal authority for ADV abatement and removal. Given the Town’s struggle to implement an ADV removal mechanism, this project instead evaluated two management options aimed at preventing ADVs within the Town: (1) increasing a public dock space, and (2) implementing a vessel turn-in program.