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[Display omitted] • UAV data accurately predicted SOC concentrations (RMSE < 2.44 %) • Radar data characterized spatial patterns of flood frequency in coastal areas. • The effect of flood frequency on SOC was highest at pioneer and seaward communities. • AGB showed a larger explanatory power than flood frequency in SOC predictions. • UAV-SAR fusion unveils site-specific fine-scale patterns of SOC in coastal meadows. Coastal wetlands are considered important stores of blue carbon, containing some of the largest stores of pedologic and biotic carbon per unit area on the planet. These ecosystems are however highly sensitive to Climate Change and changes in the management practices. It is of utmost importance to address relevant ecosystem scales in order to fully understand carbon dynamics in coastal wetlands. In this regard, Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can provide spatial scales detailed enough to address the fine scale patters of topsoil organic carbon accumulation in coastal wetlands. This study demonstrates the use of multispectral and photogrammetric data derived from UAVs to accurately map plant communities and topsoil organic carbon concentration in coastal wetlands. The overall accuracies from the classification of plant communities ranged from 88% to 97% whereas RMSE for topsoil organic carbon concentration ranged from 2.44% to 0.74%. By combining both models, site-specific variations in topsoil carbon concentrations among plant communities were unveiled. Open pioneer communities consistently showed the lowest topsoil organic carbon concentration, while the concentrations vary considerably across plant communities characterized by denser vegetation coverage. Furthermore, Sentinel-1 radar data was used to assess the spatial patterns of flood frequency. GAMs were used to combine flood frequency with the plant communities and topsoil organic carbon models, as well as an aboveground biomass (AGB) model from a previous study. GAMs revealed a stronger effect than flood frequency on topsoil organic carbon. Regarding flooding, increased flood frequency generally led decreased topsoil organic concentrations across communities and sites. However, the relative contribution of flood frequency to topsoil organic carbon concentration in Baltic coastal wetlands depends strongly on the location of the wetland and the nature of the floods. Higher flood frequencies could lead to increased topsoil organic carbon in wetlands subject to the input of estuarine sediments. Lastly, the integration of remote sensing platforms constitutes an effective tool for revealing spatial heterogeneity of carbon storage in coastal wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing-based approaches are important for evaluating ecosystem degradation and the efficient planning of ecosystem restoration efforts. However, the large majority of remote sensing-based degradation assessments are trend-based, implying that they can only detect degradation that occurred after medium or high-resolution satellite imagery became available. This makes them less suitable to map long-term degradation in ecosystems that have been under high human pressure since before. The main goal of this study was to develop a robust operational approach to map forest degradation status in heterogeneous landscapes with a long-standing degradation history to inform the planning of restoration interventions. We hereby use the tropical dry forests of Lambayeque, Peru, as a case study. Instead of using a trend-based assessment, we evaluated forest degradation status by comparing current woody cover (WC) and aboveground biomass (AGB) estimates obtained from remote sensing imagery with benchmark values consisting of the 95th percentile WC and AGB values inside environmentally homogenous land capability classes. Using boosted regression tree models and a combination of optical (Sentinel-2) and synthetic aperture radar (Sentinel-1) data of different seasons, we mapped WC and AGB, using training data obtained through very high-resolution imagery and field measurements. Further, we aimed at assessing (i) whether the inclusion of Sentinel-1 data improves mapping accuracy in comparison to using only Sentinel-2 data, and (ii) whether the use of multi-seasonal data improves accuracy in comparison to single-season data. Models combining multi-seasonal Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data resulted in the most accurate WC predictions (mean absolute error (MAE): 16%; MAE normalized by dividing by the inter-quartile range of training data: 26%) and AGB predictions (MAE: 28.6 t/ha; normalized MAE: 65%), but differences in predictive accuracy with single season models or models using only Sentinel-2 data were small. The most accurate models estimated an average WC of 41% and an average AGB of 23.4 t/ha. Average WC and AGB reduction due to degradation was 35% and 36%, respectively, indicating that these forests are highly degraded. The site-specific scaling of WC and AGB allows to efficiently estimate forest degradation status irrespective of the time when this degradation occurred, and to express degradation status against site-specific benchmarks. On the condition that there are still some areas that are sufficiently undegraded to be used as a benchmark, the approach can be used to prioritize forest restoration actions and inform targets for restoration in heterogeneous landscapes suffering the impacts of undocumented long-term degradation. • Mapping woody cover (WC) and aboveground biomass (AGB) in dry forest. • Multi-season models with Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data were most accurate. • Time-series methods can only detect degradation after onset satellite record. • We used site-specific benchmarks to quantify long-term degradation status. • Average WC and AGB reduction relative to benchmarks was 35% and 36%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]