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Manama-AGU: The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) recently hosted a discussion on studying the status of seagrass areas in the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The discussion highlighted the results of a study titled "Spatial and Temporal Changes in Seagrass Lawns in the Kingdom of Bahrain Using Reference Points and Satellite-based Modeling" that was conducted by Researcher in the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) Ms. Al Anood Fahad Al Khatlan.
The researcher said during the discussion that areas of high density seagrass that are located in the south-eastern parts of the Kingdom of Bahrain are highly exposed to drilling and reclamation operations resulting from the construction of many coastal projects since the year 2000.
She explained that her study aimed to determine the most controlling factors of the density and distribution of seagrass in the Kingdom's territorial waters, clarifying that she had tested 25 different drilled and reclaimed locations that were previously studied in the 1980s.
The discussion of Ms. Al Khatlan's study, which was supervised by Dr Thamer Salem Al Dawood, Dr Abdulrazzaq Banari and Dr Asmaa Ali Abahussain, came as part of the requirements to obtain a PhD degree from AGU. It examined the possibility of utilising the Landsat programme in distinguishing and surveying seagrass in Bahrain, in addition to surveying the carbon stored in the seagrass biomass and surrounding sediments during the last 30 years.
Elaborating further, Ms. Al Khatlan said: "The field measurements included the measurement of depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, total dissolved salts and sediment type. The seagrass bed was extracted using a drill cube to analyse the carbon in both biomass and sediments based on different relative densities of the cover. Underwater images were also taken to identify vegetation for each site using the ISODAT unattended classification and Landsat OLI visuals were also uploaded simultaneously with the field work."
The results of the study showed that the factors affecting the distribution of seagrass cover are the pH, depth, dissolved oxygen and sediment type. The study confirmed that remote sensing sensors such as OLI are able to accurately predict vegetation density in a way that is appropriate to monitor the spatial and temporal change in seagrass.
The study also affirmed the need to expand to test the entire territorial waters of the Kingdom of Bahrain with the aim of obtaining data on density, plant height and distribution, and to follow the temporal change of it as a result of seasonal changes and the expected impacts of climate change.
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