Spatiotemporal Variation of Tidal Wetlands Affected by Human Activities during the Past 50 Years: A Case Study of Yueqing Bay in Eastern China

Minghui Zhu, Xiaoming Xia (), Yining Chen, Xinkai Wang, Yifei Liu, Ziyan Zhang and Jun Zheng
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Minghui Zhu: Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Hangzhou 310012, China
Xiaoming Xia: Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Hangzhou 310012, China
Yining Chen: Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Hangzhou 310012, China
Xinkai Wang: Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Hangzhou 310012, China
Yifei Liu: Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Hangzhou 310012, China
Ziyan Zhang: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China
Jun Zheng: Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Monitoring spatiotemporal changes in tidal wetlands under the disturbance of human activities provides a strong basis for coastal wetland protection and restoration. Long-term serial remote sensing images and other historical data were collected and analysed to investigate the distribution of tidal wetlands of Yueqing Bay in 1969, 1981, 1993, 2003, 2013, and 2021, a case study across the past 50 years. The data revealed that human activities cumulatively caused the net loss of approximately 59.62 km 2 in area of tidal wetlands during the observation period. Firstly, between 1969 and 1993, reclamation primarily accounted for the variation of the tidal wetlands. Furthermore, between 1993 and 2013, the invasion of Spartina alterniflora and mudflat aquaculture also became important influencing factors. Between 2013 and 2021, development activities eased, and mangrove planting area increased. Over the analysis period, the overall results revealed that the tidal wetlands in Yueqing Bay underwent a transformation process from the relatively simple effects of exploitation by reclamation to the collective influence of combined exploitation and restoration, increasing the overall diversity of Yueqing Bay tidal wetlands over the study period.

Keywords: tidal wetlands; spatiotemporal variation; human activities; Yueqing Bay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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