Mangrove Forest Cover Change in the Conterminous United States from 1980–2020
Mangrove forests in developed and developing countries are experiencing substantial transformations driven by natural and anthropogenic factors. This study focuses on the conterminous United States, including Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, where coastal development, urbanization, hydrological pattern alterations, global warming, sea level rise, and natural disasters such as hurricanes contribute to mangrove forest changes. Using time-series Landsat data and image processing techniques in a cloud computing platform, we analyzed the dynamics of mangrove forests every five years from 1980 to 2020. Each thematic product was independently derived using a Region Of Interest (ROI) suitable for local conditions. The analysis was performed using consistent data sources and a unified classification methodology. Our results revealed that the total mangrove area in the CONUS in 2020 was 266,179 ha. with 98.0% of the mangrove area in Florida, 0.6% in Louisiana, and 1.4% in Texas. Approximately 85% of the CONUS mangrove area was found between 24.5° to 26.0° latitude. Overall, mangrove forests in CONUS increased by 13.5% from 1980 to 2020. However, quinquennial variation in aerial coverage fluctuated substantially. Validation of 2020 using a statistical sample of reference data confirmed the high accuracy of 95%. Our results can aid policymakers and conservationists in developing targeted strategies for preserving the ecological and socio-economic value of mangrove forests in the conterminous United States. Additionally, all the datasets generated from this study have been released to the public.