Loss of Relict Oak Forests along Coastal Louisiana: A Multiyear Analysis Using Google Earth Engine

Coastal forests along the southeastern Gulf of Mexico are known to be diminishing at an alarming rate. The live-oak dominant chenier southeast Louisiana amongst those exhibiting steepest declines. remnant stands have experienced numerous hurricanes and intense storm events in recent years, calling into question current status immediate future this imperiled natural resource. Despite their noted ecological physiographic importance, there is a lack within national geographic data repositories accurate representations forest loss wetland extent for region. Supervised machine learning algorithms Google Earth Engine were used classify process high-resolution National Agricultural Image Product (NAIP) datasets create (>90%) tree cover maps Chenier Plains Cameron Vermilion Parishes. Data from three different years (2003, 2007, 2019) map 2302 km2 southwestern coast Louisiana. According analyses, was 35.73% region between 2003 2019. A majority land-use change saltmarsh, with losses pastoral land also documented. We found variable rates respect elevation. Forest corresponded strongly rises mean sea level. These findings deliver baseline understanding rate region, highlighting reduction potentially eventual extirpation ecosystem.