Global Mangrove Loss Extent, Land Cover Change, and Loss Drivers, 2000-2016

This dataset provides estimates of the extent of mangrove loss, land cover change, and its anthropogenic or climatic drivers in three time periods: 2000-2005, 2005-2010, and 2010-2016. Landsat-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) anomalies were used to determine loss extent in each period. The drivers of mangrove loss were determined by examining land cover changes using a random forest machine learning technique that considered change from mangrove to wet soil, dry soil, and water at each loss pixel. A series of decision trees used several global-scale land-use datasets to identify the ultimate driver of the mangrove loss. Loss drivers include commodity production (agriculture, aquaculture), settlement, erosion, extreme climatic events, and non-productive conversion. Maps of loss extent per period, mangrove land cover changes, and loss drivers are provided for each of 39 mangrove holding nations.