Coastal marshes and wetlands are essential to support the health and productivity of surrounding communities and their marine habitats. Strong aquatic ecosystems support local fishing industries and improve water quality for safe recreation. They also serve as “blue carbon” sinks and promote coastal resilience against flooding and erosion. But as climate change and human activity put greater pressure on these systems, officials are looking for new solutions to monitor and reduce the loss of aquatic biodiversity and wildlife.
False-color PlanetScope image of the South Slough Reservation in Coos Bay, Oregon, taken April 13, 2020.
The South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is one such important river system that has seen a significant decline in eelgrass habitat in recent years. This false-color PlanetScope image shows the South Slough Preserve in Coos Bay, Oregon, United States at low tide on April 13, 2020. The distribution of eelgrass in the Preserve is overlaid, which helps track key eelgrass habitats navy that support coastal fishing communities. Kelp and eelgrass beds are one of the most productive marine ecosystems and are essential to sustaining Oregon’s fisheries and habitat. Their decline along the Oregon coast over the past 5 years has been difficult to quantify, primarily due to cost-forbidden aerial surveys. High-frequency satellite imagery helps water resource management teams make data-driven decisions to drive productive conservation initiatives.
The abundant wetlands and bayous of the US Gulf Coast also provide essential services to millions of people and various aquatic ecosystems, but they remain under threat. Today, officials are making progress in tracking and mitigating the effects of human activity on these protected lands.
In the United States, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is responsible for managing the diversity of marine life and wetlands along their Gulf Coast territory to ensure equitable use for environmental interests. , recreational and economical.
Along the Mississippi Coast, 72,000 acres of tidal marshes, marshes and tidal-influenced wetlands have been designated as “critical coastal wetland habitat” at 20 unique Coastal Preserve sites.
Marine species, or “Submerged Aquatic Vegetation” (SAV), are protected by the Coastal Zone Enhancement Program. Companies that engage in development along these protected areas must apply for a permit and relocate any VAS in the area to another location to mitigate environmental impacts such as increased flood risk and reduced fishing trips.
After performing a second inspection of the project area, an applicant found that there was no longer any VAS in their project footprint and requested an update to their original permit to remove any relevant environmental mitigation requirement. VAS are transient and can disappear from both natural and human-made causes. MDMR had to verify that, between the submission of the original proposal and the application for a revised permit, the SAVs had not been improperly removed without transplantation.
In just 24 hours, MDMR was able to pull Planet imagery over the area and time of interest to verify that there was no type of barge or construction activity that would have served as evidence that it had been human interference, saving the claimant over $100,000 in project costs and allowing MDMR to achieve its conservation goals for the benefit of its community.
Archival images of the planet captured on August 22, 2020 (left) and August 31, 2021 (right) show no unauthorized activity that could have resulted in habitat loss.
More than ever, officials are recognizing the value of protecting coastal marine ecosystems as a source of food, recreation, transportation, and diverse aquatic wildlife. The smallest impacts and changes to local biodiversity can cause a ripple effect of habitat loss that can take years to recover. Going forward, MDMR is looking to expand its use of Planet data to assess the health and quality of tidal marshes over time. This includes projects to monitor biodiversity, identify sedimentation issues, and track highly transient seagrass beds in storm-threatened bayous. Planet provides daily imagery and information, providing the same monitoring and change detection capabilities to environmental organizations and government entities around the world. You can’t manage what you can’t see.
Learn more from our Explore 2021 speakers at water quality monitoring and protected wetlands.
