Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

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Ocean and Coastal Management

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Assessing the changes of mangrove ecosystem services value in the Pars T

Special Economic Energy Zone
Qadir Ashournejada, Farshad Amiraslania,∗, Majid Kiavarz Moghadama, Ara Toomaniana
a
Remote Sensing and GIS, Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Azin Alley, Ghods Street, Tehran, Iran

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) is the largest global special economic zone in the field of oil,
Ecosystem services gas, and petrochemical industry. The Nayband national marine park is located in the PSEEZ and mangrove
Mangrove forest forests are spread throughout the estuaries (Bidkhun or Asaloyeh, Basatin and Haleh) of the park. Despite im-
Remote sensing portant goods and ecosystem services of mangroves and their high economic value, mangroves within the PSEEZ
NDVI
are threatened by activities of the oil industry. Thus, it is necessary to monitor and assess the mangroves and
Nayband bay
PSEEZ
their ecosystem services. In this context, remote sensing technologies provide effective tools for spatio-temporal
Iran analysis of mangrove distribution. In this study, Landsat-5, 7, 8 images were used from 1986 to 2018. Support
Vector Machine (SVM) and Sen's slope was employed for monitoring mangrove cover changes and estimating
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trends. In assessing the economic value of the ecosystem ser-
vices of the Mangrove forests, the mangrove distribution changes and global values of mangrove ecosystem
services were integrated. The results revealed that the coverage of mangroves had increased to about nearly
204.93 ha in area from 1986 to 2003, followed by a drop to 169.29 ha in 2018. The economic value of mangrove
forests of the PSEEZ in 1986, 1998, 2003, 2015 and 2018 was estimated to be about 3.3, 3.8, 6.7, 6.5 and 5.5
million US dollars per year, respectively. Based on Sen's slope, the NDVI trend in Basatin estuary decreased at a
rate of −0.001, but showed significant increases of about 0.008 and 0.006 for the Bidkhun and the Haleh
estuaries, respectively. Despite the suitable distribution and an economic value of $1.9 million in 1986, con-
ditions of the Basatin estuary seem to have diminished from 1986 to 2018 (economic value of $0.71 million in
2018). The Bidkhun estuary, which showed a positive trend in distribution changes, has also been downgrading
since 2015 to about 30.43 ha in size, and an economic value of $1 million. Since 1998, the mangroves of Haleh
estuary have been improving distribution-wise, with further elevations in economic value ($ 0.26 million in
2018).

1. Introduction
Ecosystem services are among the many benefits that humans have
gained from ecosystems and will always require for their survival
(MEA, 2005). Recently, ecosystems have become the subject of the
ever-increasing activities of mankind (Spence et al., 2016). A clear
example of such human-led activities with rapid changes in landuse/
landcover can be observed in the special economic zones (SEZs) defined
within the national boundaries of a country, which are themselves
subject to different business laws and regulations of the corresponding
nation (Rubini et al., 2015; Sosnovskikh, 2017). The establishment of
international trades, the production of goods, the transfer of tech-
nology, the creation of productive employment and the encouragement
of domestic and foreign investment are all among the main instigators
for creating such areas (Chaudhuri and Yabuuchi, 2010; Wang, 2013;
Bräutigam and Tang, 2014; Ortega et al., 2015; Ambroziak and
Hartwell, 2018). The Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) in
southern Iran and the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf can be con-
sidered as an example of a special economic zone (SEZ), which has
transformed from a rural and rather obscure area to both a national and
transnational city as the result of activities related to the extraction,
exploitation, refinement and export of gas (Saadatian and Dola, 2007).
The Nayband national marine park is located in the PSEEZ (Davoodi
et al., 2017). Among the most primary natural resources of this area are
its mangrove forests, situated in the estuaries of the area (Fig. 1).
Mangroves are woody plants commonly found in tropical and

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ashournejad@ut.ac.ir (Q. Ashournejad), amiraslani@ut.ac.ir (F. Amiraslani), kiavarzmajid@ut.ac.ir (M.K. Moghadam),
a.toomanian@ut.ac.ir (A. Toomanian).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.104838
Received 15 November 2018; Received in revised form 1 May 2019; Accepted 30 May 2019
0964-5691/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Q. Ashournejad, et al.
Fig. 1. a: the mangrove trees of the Nayband bay in the PSEEZ; b: the mangrove plantation in the PSEEZ; c: Pipes used in the mouth of the Basatin estuary for road
construction and limiting tidal flow to the Basatin estuary; d: Drying mangrove trees in the Basatin estuary.
subtropical areas between land and sea (Vo et al., 2015). Mangroves
provide a unique and valuable range of goods and ecosystem services
including provisions (e.g., timber, fuel wood, charcoal, paper, phar-
maceuticals, honey, and fodder), regulation (e.g., coastal protection
from flood, storm and erosion; protection from salt intrusion, carbon
sequestration and storage), habitat (e.g., breeding, spawning and nur-
sing habitat for commercial shrimp and fish species; biodiversity), and
cultural services (e.g., ecotourism and recreation, aesthetics and edu-
cation) (MEA, 2005; Dehghani et al., 2010; Brander et al., 2012; Vo
et al., 2012; Das and Crépin, 2013; Uddin et al., 2013; Mukherjee et al.,
2014; Carney et al., 2014; Stringer et al., 2015; Aziz et al., 2016;
Mehvar et al., 2018).
Table 1 shows global estimates for these services. Based on the given
figures (Costanza et al., 2014), the value of ecosystem services of
mangroves ($193,843 per ha/yr) is highest among the 16 biomes esti-
mated. Mukherjee et al. (2014) estimated the mean economic value of
the first 10 ecosystem services from the 16 identified ecosystem services
of Mangrove forests at $ 50,349.49 per hectare per year (Table 1).
Despite the important goods and ecosystem services of mangroves
and their high economic values, mangroves of the PSEEZ are threatened
by oil pollution, development of coastal roads, as well as becoming
animal food and harvested as timber (Azizi et al., 2014; Momayez and
Qasemi, 2017; Davoodi et al., 2017). These threats in conjunction with
the high sensitivity of mangroves to environmental stresses, greatly
influence the mangroves of the PSEEZ (Duke, 2016). So far, no research
has been conducted on monitoring mangrove forests of the PSEEZ or
economic evaluation of their ecosystem service, highlighting the ne-
cessity of monitoring and assessing mangroves and their ecosystem
services. Information obtained from monitoring and evaluation could
indeed provide a better understanding of the Biology of Mangroves and
aid in further planning and decision making. (Kaplowitz, 2001; Zhang
et al., 2007). In this context, remote sensing provides spatio-temporal
information on mangrove distribution (Kuenzer et al., 2011; Kuenzer
and Tuan, 2013; Vo et al., 2015; Pham et al., 2017; Hauser et al., 2017;
Cárdenas et al., 2017; Castillo et al., 2017; Proisy et al., 2018; Brown
2
Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838
et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018b). Accordingly, Landsat-5, 7, 8 images
were used for the period 1986–2018. This study seeks to estimate the
ecosystem service values of mangroves in the PSEEZ and to assess
changes in mangrove forests aiming at reaching a more comprehensive
understanding of this product of nature.
2. Study area
The PSEEZ is the largest special economic zone for oil, gas, and
petrochemical industries throughout the globe. The zone was estab-
lished in 1998 to extract oil and gas from the South Pars Gas Field1 and
to conduct economic activities in the city of Asaloyeh, Bushehr (PSEEZ,
2018). The PSEEZ is one of the areas which has attracted extensive
industrial investments within the last 10 years (Talebian et al., 2008).
PSEEZ is primarily characterized by facilities and infrastructure related
to the activities of oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, alongside the
development of transportation infrastructures (Abbasi et al., 2018)
(Fig. 2).
In terms of socioeconomic status, industrial development have not
appear to have any role in improving the livelihood of indigenous
people nor the establishment of public infrastructure. Population at-
traction, rising rates of unemployment and environmental pollution are
some of the socioeconomic consequences of the establishment of the
PSEEZ. Unemployment has increased significantly due to the loss of
traditional jobs (agriculture and livestock) caused by the conversion of
agricultural lands into industrial entities. Escalations in the rate of air
and water pollution have also had great impacts on the overall health of
local citizens (Talebian et al., 2008; Mohammadi Yeganeh et al., 2013).
The climate of PSEEZ is warm and humid with very hot summers
1
- South Pars Gas Field (the North dome in Qatari side) is the world's largest
gas field located on the joint border line between Iran and Qatar in the Persian
Gulf. This gas field covers an area of 9700 square kilometers, of which 3700
square kilometers (South Pars) is located in Iranian territorial waters and
6,000 km (North Dome) is located in Qatari territorial waters..l.
Q. Ashournejad, et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

Table 1
Mangrove ecosystem services and corresponding mean economic values.
Ecosystem Service Valuations of Mangrove Ecosystems (Mukherjee et al., 2014) Global value of ecosystem services (Mangrove biome)
Costanza et al. (2014)

Mangrove Ecosystem services Mean economic value (2007 Int$/ha/yr) Mangrove Ecosystem services Mean economic value (2007 Int$/ha/yr)

1 Fisheries (nursery and aquaculture) 17,090.1 1 Waste Treatment 162,125

2 Ecotourism and recreation 14,072.14 2 Habita/Refugia 17,138
3 Coastal protection 8,459.12 3 Disturbance Regulation 5,351
4 Pollution abatement 7,859.92 4 Erosion Control 3,929
5 Food (for Wild animals) 1,535.21 5 Recreation 2,193
6 Protection from sedimentation 579.28 6 Water Supply 1,217
7 Energy resources 306.92 7 Food Production 1,111
8 Wood and timber 247.34 8 Raw Materials 358
9 Carbon sequestration 195.23 9 Genetic Resources 311
10 Honey 4.23 10 Climate Regulation 65
11 Fodder a – 11 Nutrient Cycling 45
12 Water bio-remediation a –
13 Protection from salt intrusion a –
14 Aesthetic value a –
15 Pharmaceuticals a –
16 Environmental risk indicator a –

Total Value per ha (2007 Int$/ha/yr) 50,349.49 Total Value per ha (2007 Int$/ha/yr) 193,843

a
These ecosystem services lacked any adequate valuations in the peer-reviewed ecological economic literature (Mukherjee et al., 2014).

and mild winters. The warmest months are July and August, with
average temperatures of around 35 °C (95 °F). The amount of pre-
cipitation from June to September is zero. Most precipitation occurs at
an average of 39.8 and 38.1 mm in November and January with
average temperatures of 24.1 and 18 °C (75.3 and 64.4 Fahrenheit),
respectively. January is the coldest month of the year. The precipitation
level varies by 38 mm between the driest month and the wettest month
(IRIMO, 2017).
The main vegetative cover of the area includes palm trees and
mangrove forests. Mangrove forests in the PSEEZ are solely of the
Avicennia marina species. The mean collar diameter, height, and canopy
diameter of the mangroves in this area are 14 cm, 2.9 m and, 2.7 m,
respectively. According to measurements, the mean carbon storage in
these trees is 15.02 ton per hectare. Comparing the carbon storage of
these trees with the same species in other parts hints at a lower amount
of storage, primarily due to the factor of latitude (Moradi and Ghasemi,
2016). In fact, the amount of carbon storage in mangrove forests varies
based on the species and area in which they are located. Therefore, high
latitudes and distance from the equator have reduced the area, di-
mension, and size of the mangrove, which in turn, has affected carbon
storage (Ren et al., 2010; Donato et al., 2011; Mao et al., 2011).
The Mangrove forests in the PSEEZ are observed in three Estuaries
of Bidkhun or Asaloyeh, Basatin and Haleh in the Nayband Bay, located
between 27°23′ to 27°28′ N latitude and 52°38′ to 52° 41′ E longitude
(Fig. 2). The Bidkhun Estuary, also referred to as the Asaloyeh Estuary
(Davoodi, 2016; Davoodi et al., 2017), is located in the northeast of the
Nayband Bay, and the Basatin Estuary and the Haleh Estuary are to the
southeast and south of the Bay. Nayband Bay along with a part of
Nayband's headland, with an area of 19500 ha, were designated as the
Nayband protected area in 1978. This area together with parts of the
Persian Gulf waters, with an approximate area of 49815 ha, were re-
gistered as the first Iranian national marine park in 2003 (Owfi and
Owfi, 2018). The area has a wide range of terrestrial and marine ha-
bitats including coastal sand dunes, rocky, muddy and sandy shores,
coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and estuaries (EBSAs,
2018). There are also various aquatic species, marine mammals such as
dolphins and whales, endangered reptiles such as the green and eagle
tip turtle and various species of aquatic birds in the area (Zahed et al.,
2010; Owfi and Owfi, 2018).
3. Materials and methods
The Landsat data archive (with more than 40 years of data archive)
provided a unique opportunity for monitoring and evaluating man-
groves in the PSEEZ for the given period of 32 years from 1986 to 2018
(Kuenzer et al., 2011; Carney et al., 2014; Aziz et al., 2015; Van et al.,
2015; Giri et al., 2015; Ibharim et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2017; Wang
et al., 2017; Cissell et al., 2018; Jia et al., 2018; Jayanthi et al., 2018).
Given the effects of tides on the accuracy of the mangrove data obtained
from remote sensing images, all images were selected at the time of the
ebb of the region (Zhang et al., 2017; Xia et al., 2018). The atmo-
spherically corrected Landsat images offered by the USGS in the form of
a spectral reflection are used (USGS, 2018a; USGS, 2018b; Favretto,
2018). Geometric accuracy of the images was configured for further use
in this study. A total of 99 scenes of the Landsat images generated from
Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and
Operational Land Imager (OLI)) were used to evaluate the mangroves in
the PSEEZ both before and after the establishment of this zone in 1998.
Supervised classification was used for estimating mangrove dis-
tribution and monitoring their changes in 28 February 1986, 18 April
1998, 8 April 2003, 28 February 2015, and 24 March 2018. Among a
set of commonly-used machine learning methods for classification
(Green et al., 1998; Xia et al., 2018) two methods of Support Vector
Machines (SVMs) and Random Forest (RF) (Belgiu and Drăguţ, 2016)
were selected and compared. Despite the high speed of the RF method
in the classification of mangroves in the study area in 1986, the accu-
racy of SVMs was higher and therefore SVMs were employed for the
classification of other Landsat images into three categories of man-
grove, water and, other land covers. The capability of SVMs in learning
and training, as well as their high capacity for processing large volumes
of data, have led to its general acceptance (Mountrakis et al., 2011). In
aiming to evaluate the classification results following visual controls, an
Error Matrix was obtained and used to calculate the overall accuracy,
Kappa coefficient, user's accuracy, and producer's accuracy (Congalton,
1991). The Stratified Random Sampling method was used to select the
validation samples (Lyons et al., 2018).
The results obtained from the mangrove distribution were applied to
the ecosystem service value (ESV) estimation model presented by
Costanza et al. (1997) for assessing the economic values of the man-
grove ecosystem services in the PSEEZ. Since the sole ecosystem service
value of mangroves is estimated in this research, the model was mod-
ified as so:

3
Q. Ashournejad, et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

Fig. 2. Study area, a) Iran; b) PSEEZ; c) Location of the Mangrove forests in three Estuaries of Bidkhun or Asaloyeh, Basatin and Haleh in the Nayband Bay; d)
Infrastructure of the PSEEZ before its establishment in 1995; e) Infrastructure of the PSEEZ after its establishment in 2018.

n
other organisms benefit from. MESVt is the value of mangrove eco-
MESVe = ∑ Ae × VCf
system services of all the estuaries. Given the complexity and multi-
f =1 (1)
dimensionality (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) of the eco-
m nomic evaluation of each of the mangrove ecosystem services in con-
MESVt = ∑ MESVe junction with the fact that local economic values of these services were
e=1 (2)
not previously calculated for the study region, the global values of
where MESVe is the value of mangrove ecosystem services of es- ecosystem services of mangrove forests obtained by Mukherjee et al.
tuary e, Ae is the area (ha) of mangroves for estuary e, which is derived (2014) were applied. They used the Delphi technique to identify the
from the Landsat image classification, and VCf is the value coefficient mangrove ecosystem services and invited 106 mangrove experts (sci-
for mangroves with ecosystem service function type f that humans and entists, reserve managers and field-based conservationists) to

4
Q. Ashournejad, et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

participate in the survey. The experts identified 16 ecosystem services,
of which 6 ecosystem services (fodder, water bio-remediation, protec-
tion from salt intrusion, aesthetic value, pharmaceuticals and en-
vironmental risk indicator) did not achieve adequate evaluations in the
peer-reviewed ecological economic literature and values of other eco-
system services were determined based on their mean economic values
(Table 1).
On the grounds that the increase in the spatial extent of the man-
groves is not always a good indicator of a positive trend and has in fact
been shown to conceal quality degradation, an alternative indicator
should be used for assessing the ecological condition of mangrove for-
ests. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a strong re-
motely-sensed indicator which is following a decreasing trend due to
deterioration of vegetation phenology (Alatorre et al., 2016). In addi-
tion, NDVI also displays the density of mangrove forest cover (Yuvaraj
et al., 2014) and is widely used in the environmental assessment of
mangroves (Alatorre et al., 2016). NDVI is calculated according to
Equation (3) (Rouse et al., 1974):
RNIR − RRed
NDVI =
RNIR + RRed
, where RNIR and RRed are spectral reflections in near-red and near-
infrared ranges, respectively. The spectral range of near-infrared and
red bands in TM/ETM + sensors varies with OLI sensors. These dif-
ferences affect the values obtained for NDVI (NDVIOLI is greater than
NDVITM, ETM+). Therefore, Equation (4) was used to unify them into a
new parameter NDVIOLI (Roy et al., 2016; Pan et al., 2018):
NDVIOLI = 0.0235 + 0.9723NDVITM , ETM +
Trends in NDVI were estimated using the Sen's slope developed by
Sen (1968). This non-parametric index is based on the assumption of a
linear trend and is calculated according to Equation (5):
Sen’s slope = Median{(x i − xj )/(i − j )}, i > j
, where xi and xj are the NDVI values at time i and j, respectively
(i > j). The median is the median function. The negative values of
Sen's slope indicate a negative trend while positive values indicate a
positive trend (Baniya et al., 2018). The nonparametric Mann-Kendall
test was also used to evaluate the significance of vegetation changes
(Mann, 1945; Kendall, 1975).
The significant differences in the stages of mangrove phenology
were assessed using a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
(Cabrera-Bosquet et al., 2011). Year (six-levels), season (four-levels)
and Estuary (three-levels) comprised the independent variables, while
NDVI was selected as the dependent variable. Significance levels were
compared at a 95% confidence interval (α = 0.05) (Abdalla Ibrahim,
2016).
4. Results
4.1. Spatial distribution and economic valuation of mangroves in the PSEEZ
The results indicate that the area of mangroves in the PSEEZ has
increased to 204.93 ha from 1986 to 2003, followed by a decrease to
169.29 ha in 2018 (Table 2 and Figs. 3 and 5). The greatest increase,
87.75 ha, occurred between 1998 and 2003 and the largest decline,
30.78 ha, occurred between 2015 and 2018. The situation is indicative
of an overall decrease in the area of mangroves.
The Bastian estuary had the largest area of mangrove forests
(57.87 ha) in 1986, but subsequently declined extensively to 21.69 ha
in 2018. The mangroves at the end of this estuary were completely
destroyed (Fig. 3). Between 1986 and 2018, the Bidkhun estuary had
the largest increase of about 106.73 ha, which subsequently fell by
30.43 ha between 2015 and 2018. The Haleh estuary, after the total
destruction of 10.08 ha of mangroves in 1998, is being restored with
7.92 ha of area in 2018. In contrast to Bidkhun and Basatin estuaries,
which faced a reduction in area\ between 2015 and 2018, the Haleh
estuary had increased by 3.51 ha in area.
Fig. 4 shows changes in spatial distribution of the Mangroves based
on the integration of the obtained maps (Fig. 3) of three classes of
vulnerable mangroves (present in the first year but not in the other
years), resilient mangroves (present only in the last year) and resistant
mangroves (present in all years). Vulnerable, resilient and resistant
mangroves contributed to 29.79 ha)4, 81 and 15% for Bidkhun, Basatin
(3)
and Haleh estuaries), 142.65 ha)80, 15 and 5% for Bidkhun, Basatin
and Haleh estuaries) and 26.64 ha)97, 3 and 0% for Bidkhun, Basatin
and Haleh estuaries) in area, respectively.
In addition to the spatial distribution of mangroves, morphological
changes have also occurred at the Basatin estuary (Fig. 3). According to
measurements, the width of the estuary was 600 m in 1986, but reduced
to 37 m in 2018.
Based on the global estimates of mangrove ecosystem services, hu-
(4)
mans and other organisms in the PSEEZ benefit from eight ecosystem
services of mangroves of which food (for wild animals), wood and
timber, and honey are placed in the category of provisioning services,
and coastal protection, protection from sedimentation, carbon seques-
tration and pollution abatement are placed in the category of regulation
(5) services, and ecotourism and recreation fall within the category of
cultural services. The approximate value of all of these services is
$32,952.47 per hectare per year, presented in Table 3 for all three es-
tuaries.
Based on the results (Table 3 and Fig. 5), the economic value of the
mangrove services in the PSEEZ for the years 1986, 1998, 2003, 2015
and 2018 is estimated at 3.32, 3.86, 6.75, 6.59 and 5.57 million US
dollars per year, respectively. Bidkhun estuary had the highest eco-
nomic value of all mangrove services ($ 5.6 million per year) in 2015.
With the reduction of the mangroves from 170.1 to 139.67 ha in 2018,
the economic value of these services reached 4.6 million dollars per
year. Between 1986 and 2018, the Basatin estuary fell by 36.18 ha in
area and its value ranged from $1.9 million to $ 0.71 million per year.
The mangrove forests of the Haleh estuary, which have always had
lower economic value, showed an economic value of $0.26 million per
year in 2018, being lower than the corresponding value in 1986 ($ 0.33
million per year). Fortunately, the economic value of Mangrove forests
in the Haleh estuary, has been increasing since 2003, and each period
has added to its economic value.

Table 2
Changes in the area of mangroves in the PSEEZ from 1986 to 2018.
Year Bidkhun Basatin Haleh All trend of User's accuracy Producer's accuracy Overall Kappa Coefficient
Estuary Estuary Estuary change (Mangrove class) (Mangrove class) Accuracy

1986 32.94 57.87 10.08 100.89 – 96.42 87.09 93.5 90.04

1998 92.34 24.84 0 117.18 +16.29 95 88.37 92.2 87.87
2003 155.25 47.52 2.16 204.93 +87.75 85.71 100 94.8 91.71
2015 170.10 25.56 4.41 200.07 - 4.86 91.11 95.34 94.8 91.68
2018 139.67 21.69 7.92 169.29 - 30.78 91.3 91.3 94.8 91.85

(Units for columns 2 to 5: hectare and Units for columns 6 to 9: %).

5
Q. Ashournejad, et al.
Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of the Mangroves in the PSEEZ from 1986 to 2018.
4.2. NDVI of mangroves in the PSEEZ
The results of annual NDVI for the mangroves of PSEEZ in 1987,
1990, 2000, 2014, 2016, and 2018 show mean and standard deviations
of 0.27 ± 0.069, 0.33 ± 0.056, 0.38 ± 0.098, 0.44 ± 0.091,
0.45 ± 0.094 and 0.40 ± 0.089, respectively. The lowest amount
occurred in 1987 and the highest in 2016. Based on Sen's slope, the
NDVI trend in Basatin estuary decreased at a rate of −0.001, but
showed significant increases of nearly 0.008 and 0.006 for the Bidkhun
and the Haleh estuaries, respectively (Table 4 and Fig. 6).
The minimum annual NDVI was found to be 0.14 ± 0.022 in 2000
in the Haleh estuary, and the highest annual NDVI was 0.47 ± 0.098 in
2016 in the Bidkhun estuary. In Bidkhun estuary, the annual NDVI
increased between 1987 and 2016 (0.29 ± 0.074 to 0.47 ± 0.098)
6
Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838
and declined to 0.44 ± 0.100 in 2018. In 1987, Basatin estuary had
better conditions than the Haleh estuaries, however the mean NDVI in
this estuary declined from 0.25 ± 0.069 to 0.23 ± 0.049 in the given
period from 1987 to 2018. The Haleh estuary, which has a lower annual
NDVI range than the other two, showed an increasing trend in NDVI,
rising from 0.15 ± 0.017 to 0.30 ± 0.063, indicating an improvement
in its status compared to the previous one.
Results of ANOVA revealed significant differences between factors
of year (F = 4.89, df = 5, P < 0.05), season (F = 13.99, df = 3,
P < 0.05) and estuary (F = 89.87, df = 2, P < 0.05), with NDVI va-
lues.
Q. Ashournejad, et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

Fig. 4. Spatial distribution changes of the Mangroves in the PSEEZ from 1986 to 2018.

5. Discussion
Compared to other similar studies on changes in mangrove forests
(Long and Giri, 2011; Shapiro et al., 2015; Kanniah et al., 2015;
Ibharim et al., 2015; Rodriguez et al., 2016; Ghosh et al., 2016;
Maryantica and Lin, 2017; Hu et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018a; Jayanthi
et al., 2018; Jia et al., 2018; Cissell et al., 2018; Mondal et al., 2018; Tin
et al., 2019; Pham et al., 2019), this research described changes in the
distribution of mangroves based on the economic value of their eco-
system services. In addition to evaluating these quantitative changes,
the qualitative status of the mangroves was analyzed by the NDVI
index, which was not considered in previous studies. Another difference
in this research with other similar studies is that various factors seemed
to influence the mangroves of the PSEEZ and were therefor considered
for further analysis. One of the socioeconomic effects of the establish-
ment of the PSEEZ on the region's mangroves is the reduction of their
use as animal food and timber, which was most probably due to the loss
of traditional jobs in the region, such as agriculture and livestock. With
the establishment of the PSEEZ, Native landowners sold their lands,
especially agricultural lands, to industrial owners, and agricultural
lands and palm groves decreased from 717 to 1693 ha in area in 1998 to
320 and 1114 ha in 2018 (Ashurnejad et al., 2019). The supply of

Table 3
The economic value of mangrove ecosystem services in the PSEEZ from 1986 to 2018.
Ecosystem Services Provisioning services Regulation services Cultural services All values

Food (for Wood and Honey Coastal Pollution Protection from Carbon Ecotourism and
Wild timber protection abatement sedimentation sequestration recreation
animals)

Mean economic value (2007 Int 1,535.21 247.34 4.23 8,459.12 7,859.92 579.28 195.23 14,072.14 32,952.47
$/ha/yr)

Year Estuary Area (ha)

1986 Bidkhun 32.94 50,570 8,147 139 278,643 258,906 19,081 6,431 463,536 1,085,454
Basatin 57.87 88,843 14,314 245 489,529 454,854 33,523 11,298 814,355 1,906,959
Haleh 10.08 15,475 2,493 43 85,268 79,228 5,839 1,968 141,847 332,161
All 100.89 154,887 24,954 427 853,441 792,987 58,444 19,697 1,419,738 3,324,575
1998 Bidkhun 92.34 141,761 22,839 391 781,115 725,785 53,491 18,028 1,299,421 3,042,831
Basatin 24.84 38,135 6,144 105 210,125 195,240 14,389 4,850 349,552 818,539
Haleh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All 117.18 179,896 28,983 496 991,240 921,025 67,880 22,877 1,648,973 3,861,370
2003 Bidkhun 155.25 238,341 38,400 657 1,313,278 1,220,253 89,933 30,309 2,184,700 5,115,871
Basatin 47.52 72,953 11,754 201 401,977 373,503 27,527 9,277 668,708 1,565,901
Haleh 2.16 3,316 534 9 18,272 16,977 1,251 422 30,396 71,177
All 204.93 314,611 50,687 867 1,733,527 1,610,733 118,712 40,008 2,883,804 6,752,950
2015 Bidkhun 170.10 261,139 42,073 720 1,438,896 1,336,972 98,536 33,209 2,393,671 5,605,215
Basatin 25.56 39240 6,322 108 216,215 200,900 14,806 4,990 359,684 842,265
Haleh 4.41 6,770 1,091 19 37,305 34,662 2,555 861 62,058 145,320
All 200.07 307,149 49,485 846 1,692,416 1,572,534 115,897 39,060 2,815,413 6,592,801
2018 Bidkhun 139.67 214,423 34,546 591 1,181,485 1,097,795 80,908 27,268 1,965,456 4,602,471
Basatin 21.69 33,299 5,365 92 183,478 170,482 12,565 4,235 305,225 714,739
Haleh 7.92 12,159 1,959 34 66,996 62,251 4,588 1,546 111,451 260,984
All 169.29 259,896 41,872 716 1,432,044 1,330,606 98,066 33,050 2,382,273 5,578,524

(Unit: Int$).

7
Q. Ashournejad, et al. Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838

Besides the numerous positive effects of the PSEEZ, destructive ef-

fects have also been introduced to the region's mangroves. As an ex-
ample, construction of the road from Asaloyeh to the Basatin, which
had been launched before the establishment of the PSEEZ, was com-
pleted after the establishment of this zone (Davoodi et al., 2016, 2018).
Pollution from oil and gas infrastructures and refineries in the PSEEZ
have been identified as other destructive factors for the region's man-
groves (Davoodi et al., 2017). These differing effects have caused a
variety of changes on the distribution and NDVI of mangroves in three
estuaries (Bidkhun or Asaloyeh, Basatin and Haleh). The results in-
dicate that the mangroves in the Basatin estuary, despite their suitable
state of distribution (economic value of $ 1.9 million) in 1986 and NDVI
(0.25 ± 0.069) in 1987, seemed to have downgraded after 1986 to
2018 (economic value of $ 0.71 million and Mean NDVI ± SD of
0.23 ± 0.049 in 2018). However, the mangroves in this estuary could
Fig. 5. The area of mangroves and the economic value of their ecosystem ser- have a higher economic value and NDVI as opposed to the Bidkhun and
vices in the PSEEZ from 1986 to 2018.
Haleh estuaries in 2018. These represent the pressure that has been
exerted on the mangroves of this estuary and has had great impact on
Table 4 their distribution and NDVI status. As indicated in the results, mor-
NDVI trends in Mangroves of the PSEEZ from 1987 to 2018. phological changes have been made in the mouth of the Basatin estuary.
Year Season Mean Mean Mean These morphological changes occurred due to the construction of the
NDVI ± SD NDVI ± SD NDVI ± SD road between Asaloyeh and Basatin. In addition, the use of pipes in the
(Bidkhun (Basatin (Hale Estuary) mouth of the estuary has limited the flow of tides. Davoodi et al. (2018)
Estuary) Estuary)
found that this reduction in size and the use of pipes in the estuary
1987 Winter 0.31 ± 0.046 0.32 ± 0.028 0.17 ± 0.009 mouth caused two major problems for the Basatin estuary. First, it
1987 Spring 0.24 ± 0.027 0.21 ± 0.016 0.15 ± 0.004 decreased the amount of water entering the sea, and second, it stopped
1987 Summer 0.25 ± 0.047 0.20 ± 0.036 0.15 ± 0.020 the sediment discharge in the eastern river of the estuary during the
1987 Autumn 0.36 ± 0.092 0.31 ± 0.072 0.16 ± 0.019
flood. Over time, this issue led to the accumulation of sediments in the
1990 Winter 0.40 ± 0.034 0.25 ± 0.036 0.18 ± 0.003
1990 Spring 0.35 ± 0.025 0.19 ± 0.016 0.17 ± 0.006
main channel of the estuary. With reductions in the depth of the
1990 Summer 0.30 ± 0.039 0.16 ± 0.009 0.15 ± 0.004 channel and lack of access to water, the mangroves were choked and
1990 Autumn 0.41 ± 0.040 0.25 ± 0.035 0.14 ± 0.004 dried.
2000 Winter 0.50 ± 0.030 0.45 ± 0.028 0.14 ± 0.019 The continued destruction of the mangroves led to the erection of
2000 Spring 0.36 ± 0.041 0.27 ± 0.054 0.12 ± 0.004
the bridge on the mouth of this estuary. With the complete collection of
2000 Summer 0.29 ± 0.050 0.20 ± 0.055 0.13 ± 0.020
2000 Autumn 0.47 ± 0.054 0.41 ± 0.040 0.15 ± 0.025 used pipes in 2016, NDVI has followed a more upward trend than ever
2014 Winter 0.50 ± 0.060 0.26 ± 0.009 0.25 ± 0.038 before. This condition of mangroves in Basatin estuary was indicative of
2014 Spring 0.44 ± 0.014 0.25 ± 0.010 0.16 ± 0.006 the high sensitivity and vulnerability of mangroves to environmental
2014 Summer 0.35 ± 0.066 0.21 ± 0.047 0.15 ± 0.021
stresses. However, it is very difficult and expensive to restore the es-
2014 Autumn 0.56 ± 0.038 0.29 ± 0.022 0.15 ± 0.007
2016 Winter 0.53 ± 0.055 0.27 ± 0.044 0.22 ± 0.031
tuary to its natural conditions. Another point about this estuary is the
2016 Spring 0.41 ± 0.081 0.22 ± 0.048 0.18 ± 0.022 expandable space of mangroves in the east of the estuary by an ap-
2016 Summer 0.40 ± 0.033 0.21 ± 0.029 0.19 ± 0.040 proximate area of 3,000 ha, which is not seen in the case of Bidkhun
2016 Autumn 0.56 ± 0.088 0.32 ± 0.051 0.29 ± 0.033 and Haleh estuaries. This space, located in the Nayband wetland, is the
2018 Winter 0.49 ± 0.058 0.23 ± 0.035 0.30 ± 0.047
guarantor of future life of the mangroves in the area and should not be
2018 Spring 0.39 ± 0.047 0.20 ± 0.025 0.28 ± 0.036
2018 Summer 0.34 ± 0.030 0.19 ± 0.009 0.26 ± 0.027 used for constructional proposes.
2018 Autumn 0.54 ± 0.100 0.29 ± 0.046 0.37 ± 0.069 The Bidkhun estuary, which showed a positive trend in distribution
Mann-Kendall Test Z 2.70 −0.47 3.25 and NDVI, has been downgrading since 2015, highlighting the need for
Signific. Significant Insignificant Significant
further investigations into what caused this demotion. The downgrade
Sen's Slope Q 0.008 −0.001 0.006
Qmin99 0.001 −0.007 0.001
was about 30.43 ha in area, equivalent to an economic value of $ 1
Qmax99 0.016 0.004 0.010 million. Disregarding this decline can lead to the destruction of a large
Qmin95 0.003 −0.006 0.002 part of the mangroves of this estuary. The impervious surfaces are lo-
Qmax95 0.013 0.003 0.009 cated within 100 m of the mangroves of the estuary. Advances of sea-
B 0.32 0.25 0.13
water and coastal squeeze threaten the future life of these mangroves.
Bmin99 0.39 0.33 0.16
Bmax99 0.23 0.20 0.07 The mangroves of Haleh estuary have been improving in distribu-
Bmin95 0.36 0.32 0.15 tion and NDVI since 1998, with rises in economic value ($ 0.26 million
Bmax95 0.25 0.22 0.09 in 2018). This is the result of cultivating 22,000 mangrove seedlings in
Haleh estuary (Dialogue and Development in Iran, 2013). This estuary
has only 20 ha of free space in the west, and the preservation of man-
energy by gas sources extracted from the PSEEZ is another factor that groves in the current location is critical.
reduces the use of mangroves as a source of fuel. Increasing people's
awareness of the value of the ecosystem services of mangroves is an- 6. Conclusion
other issue that can be mentioned with the advent of industry and
environmental institutions (Dialogue and Development in Iran, 2013). In this study, Landsat images were employed for evaluation of
The reclamation of mangroves after the establishment of the PSEEZ has mangrove ecosystem services and economic value in the PSEEZ for a
been repeatedly announced by relevant organizations such as Iranian period of 32 years from 1986 to 2018. Rapid changes in the distribution
Department of Environment. According to the said reclamations, in and NDVI of the mangroves in the PSEEZ area have reconfirmed the
addition to environmental organizations, people also play a key role vulnerability and fragility of the mangroves. The drying of the Nayband
(DOE, 2018). wetland, morphological changes of the Basatin estuary mouth and

8
Q. Ashournejad, et al.
Fig. 6. NDVI trends in Mangroves of the PSEEZ from 1987 to 2018.
constructional works alongside the Bidkhun and Haleh estuaries are
indicative of the lack of consideration of mangrove ecosystems in the
planning and decision making of the region. These factors indicated a
lack of adequate knowledge about such ecosystems and their economic
value on part of the decision makers and planners of the PSEEZ in
previous years. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the current man-
groves and plan for their future life. One of the ways to protect these
forests is their regular monitoring, which has been made possible
through the development and application of remote sensing images in
recent years. Improvements in spatial and temporal resolution of
9
Ocean and Coastal Management 179 (2019) 104838
remote sensing data allow us to use and exploit them in the form of
early vulnerability warning systems for mangroves. One must consider
the significant role of economic value and impervious surfaces around
the forests in designing systems for regular monitoring of the dis-
tribution and NDVI status and the conservation of these mangroves and
their ecosystem services. It is proposed such systems be designed to
protect mangroves in the PSEEZ.
Since none of the ecosystem services of the mangroves in the PSEEZ
has ever been economically valued and their valuation should be car-
ried out on a global scale, it is suggested that other investigations be
Q. Ashournejad, et al.
carried out on the local economic values of mangrove ecosystem ser-
vices in the PSEEZ.
Funding
This study was not supported by any funding.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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