Historical Maps provide insight into a century and a half of habitat change in Fijian coasts.

ABSTRACT: Meaningful conservation goals require setting baselines derived from long-term ecological records and information that is rare in many regions of the world. Historical data allow us to shift baselines back in time in order to strengthen conservation outcomes in the future.To explore how different histories of land use and development influenced coastal ecosystems in two Fijian cities (Suva and Savusavu), we compared a series of historical navigational charts. These charts recorded change in coral reef area and coastal mangrove forests, as well as expansions of hardened shorelines. We used geographic information systems (GIS) to georeference and make quantitative comparisons starting in 1,840 in Suva and 1876 in Savusavu.Our findings show that, despite increasing urbanization in the capital

SUBMITTER: Lawson KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8601896 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature