Changes in submerged aquatic vegetation cover off the northern Yucatan Peninsula detected with Sentinel-2 imagery using a fuzzy classification system

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) plays a major role in various coastal ecological processes, providing habitat and food to a marine community and environmental benefits to people. However, seagrass meadow extensions around the world are shrinking. The objective of this study was to analyze recent variation in SAV coverage along the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, acoustic echosounder field surveys, and a fuzzy classification system, we produced binary cartographic models of SAV coverage for 2016, 2018, and 2019. In a study area of approximately 16342 km2, we estimated SAV coverage of 5957.90 km2 in 2016, with a decline to 2873.55 km2 by 2019. Coverage in protected areas decreased from 2376.03 km2 to 1690.89 km2 over the same period. The Federal Protected Area for Flora and Fauna of YumBalam showed an estimated gain of 48.3 km2 (r = 11.63%), but that of Laguna de Terminos an estimated reduction of 508.50 km2 (r = -29.77%), and coverage in the Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve decreased by 186.5 km2 (r = -5.35%). These changes are likely part of a complex dynamic in the study area, one that may include anthropic effects.