Mapping the structure of mixed seagrass meadows in the Mexican Caribbean

The physical and ecological importance of seagrass meadows in coastal processes is widely recognized, the development tools facilitating characterization their structure distribution important for improving our understanding these processes. Mixed (multi-specific) a Mexican Caribbean reef lagoon were mapped employing multiparameter approach, using PlanetScope remote sensing images, supervised classification based on parameters related to seagrasses meadows, including cover percentages seagrass/algae/sediment, algae thalli shoot densities, canopy heights estimated leaf area index (LAI). cover, obtained ground truth sampling, while LAI was data from long-term monitoring programs. maps do not show differentiation species, but truthing contemplated density Thalassia testudinum, Syringodium filiforme Halodule wrightii respective LAIs. S. dominant species terms density, T. testudinum LAI. In multiparameter-based map four classes defined, structural characteristics, its overall accuracy very high (~90%). Maps sediment alone also had 4 classes, they less accurate than (~70% ~80%, respectively). provided spatially-explicit abundance seagrasses, useful future changes studies that require large-scale meadow structure, such as inventories associated biota, blue carbon storage, or modelling local hydrodynamics.