our research team to analyze and map cate 
gories of: red fringe, red riverine, black 
and mixed mangroves in addition to 
categories of upland and marsh ecosystems / 
sand and beach / and man-made surfaces of 
roads and urban developments. By compari 
son, in the Butera study Landsat MSS data of 
digitally mapped categories revealed black 
mangroves / mixed mangroves / a category 
called damaged mangroves because of hurri 
cane damage / water / other / and un 
classified. At no time was there a clear 
indication of the presence of red fringe or 
red riverine mangrove patterns. 
We realize that these are uneven compari 
sons based on differences in image scale, 
resolutions of 80 meters compared to 
resolutions of from 3 to 10 meters. All of 
which means that with these types of data, 
if one needs to investigate mangroves up 
close, then one must move close to the 
subject through the use of higher resolu 
tion aircraft imagery. In future research, 
we expect that the 30 meter Thematic Mapper 
Landsat data will be of greater use to us 
than the MSS data have shown and even may be 
comparable to high altitude aircraft data. 
2.2 Geographic Information Sysyterns (GIS) 
Aircraft imagery from 1952, 1962, 1973, and 
1984 were scaled to a common scale of 
1:24,000,interpreted and mapped for mangrove 
species and communities, and digitized into a 
GIS data base. Map overlays were initially 
produced from manually interpreted aircraft 
imagery in black and white and color infrared. 
The mangrove species and communities of red 
fringe, red riverine, black mangrove, mixed, 
and upland categories were delineated onto 
mylar overlays. The completed mylar overlays 
were then manually digitized on a Calcomp 
digitizer and entered into a GIS on an ERDAS 
(Earth Resources Data Analysis System). The 
pixel cell size of the digitized maps was 10 
meters. 
A matrix analysis was used to produce 
statistical comparisons between maps for 
different dates. Matrix analysis allowed for 
cross references and comparisons to be made 
for each pixel for each map for any combi 
nation of dates from 1952, 1962, 1973, and 
1984. The digital mapping of Marco Island 
provided a retrievable data base as a GIS 
that could be continually updated as eco 
systems and landcover changed. Such data 
bases, enabled us to inventory several cate 
gories of mangrove as well as landcover and 
to calculate acreages of change. 
3. CHANGE DETECTION 
A major concern has been the destruction of 
mangrove ecosystems by residential and com 
mercial development in the Marco Island area. 
As part of our work with aircraft data we 
completed a series of analyses of change 
detection. Four time periods were analyzed: 
1952, 1962, 1973, and 1984. 
The Marco Island inventory of mangrove com 
munities and landuse provided calculations of 
category descriptions and acreages. A clear 
trend showed a decline in mangrove acreages 
and an increase in the areal extent of resi 
dential and commercial land development. 
Comparisons between maps xor tne dates oi 
1952, 1962, 1973, and 1984 provided visual 
and statistical proof of changes in areal 
extent and distribution that have occurred to 
the categories of: mangrove communities/ 
converted or urban/ and "other land". 
Mangroves changed from a total acreage of 
11,285 in 1952 to a total of 8,577 in 1984. 
This represented an areal decrease of 2,708 
acres of mangroves in the 32 year period. In 
terms of species, black mangrove experienced 
the most dramatic changes over the 32 year 
period. Black mangroves changed from 4,250 
in 1952 to 2,344 in 1984. The net loss was 
1,906 acres. Despite the rapid growth and 
change in the area, mixed mangroves did not 
show large declines in acreage. Mixed man 
groves occupied 4,755 acres in 1952 and 4,495 
in 1984. This became a net loss of only 260 
acres. However,this is a misleading figure 
as categories changed and were offset by the 
natural expansion of the mixed mangrove 
category into areas formerly occupied by pure 
stands of black mangrove. The red fringe 
mangrove communities were reduced by 206 
acres by the changes between 1,390 acres 
for 1952 to 1,184 acres in 1984. 
The precipitous decline in the "other land" 
category from 3,506 acres to 845 acres be 
tween 1952 and 1984, was the result of water 
front development which began in 1962 but 
escalated in the 1969 through 1973 period. 
The net decline in "other land", pre 
dominantly uplands, was 2,661 acres. The 
change in the uplands was the most striking 
in that nearly all changes were the result of 
the land development of Marco Island. The 
uplands changed from 2,508 acres in 1952 to 
553 acres in 1984, with a net loss of 1,955 
acres. 
4. CONCLUSIONS 
Mangrove ecosystems of the Marco Island area 
were successfully mapped through the use of 
remote sensing and GIS techniques. Changes 
in the areal extent of the mangrove com 
munities were successfully identified with 
respect to man-induced disturbances. Between 
the years of 1952 and 1984, the total of 
mangrove acreages declined by 2,708 acres. 
Uplands were reduced by 1,955 acres. But 
developed urban residential and commercial 
property, increased by 5,102 acres at the 
expense of some important nutrient producing 
mangrove areas. 
Although mangroves are prime land for 
certain coastal developments, they are also 
vital to marine estuarine ecosystems. 
Knowledge of mangrove productivity in 
detrital(leaf litter) export for fisheries 
and map information on the distribution and 
areal extent of each mangrove community would 
enable researchers to estimate the ecological 
significance of site-specific disturbances. 
The areal extent of Florida's mangroves, and 
the ratio of black, mixed, red fringing, and 
red riverine must be measured and mapped in 
order to examine the ecological impacts of 
coastal development. 
The primary objective of this research has 
been to demonstrate the remote sensing and 
mapping techniques that best provide the 
necessary details for mangrove species and 
community analysis. Although Landsat MSS 
data provide adequate information on the 
broadest areal coverage, we must still rely 
on aircraft data for proper species identifi 
cation until such time we can determine the 
full capabilities of Landsat TM data for 
mapping the mangrove ecosystems for Florida 
and ultimately for much of the world's 
tropical mangrove regions.