Spatial Insights into Mangrove Ecosystem Services in Perak, Malaysia: A Preliminary Assessment Using Satellite Imagery
Muhammad Akmal Roslani 1*, Mohd Hasmadi Ismail 2 and Norizah Kamaruddin 3

1,2,3 Department of Forestry Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
1 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis Branch, Arau Campus, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia.
3 Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

Mangrove ecosystems are critical to coastal resilience, biodiversity conservation, and human livelihoods. They provide a range of ecosystem services (ES), such as flood protection, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and support for fisheries. However, assessing and mapping these services on a broad landscape scale remains challenging, particularly in regions with limited data availability. This study presents a preliminary assessment of the potential supply of mangrove ecosystem services (MES) in Tanjung Burung and Matang, Perak, Malaysia, primarily designated forest reserves. Using SPOT-6 satellite imagery and a Land Use Land Cover (LULC)-MES matrix approach, we classified seven LULC classes. We analyzed their spatial contribution to 29 identified key MES subservices. Expert surveys were conducted to gather qualitative insights and quantitative estimations of MES potential supply, covering provisioning, regulating and maintaining, and cultural services. The preliminary analysis revealed that cultural services resulted in the highest mean scores for their potential capacities of MES supply compared to the regulating, maintenance, and provisioning services. Mangroves emerged as the most multifunctional land cover, achieving the high potential capacities of MES supply across all 29 assessed MES subservices, outperforming other classes. A spatial visualization of these services was generated, offering a clearer understanding of their distribution and intensity across the landscape. The result highlights the value of remote sensing as a scalable tool for MES assessment, especially in data-scarce contexts.

Keywords: Mangrove Ecosystem Services, Ecosystem Service Mapping, SPOT-6 Imagery, Land Use Land Cover Matrix, Sustainable Mangrove Management.

Topic: Topic B: Applications of Remote Sensing