The dynamic of surface elevation changes over a range of mangrove management strategies in degraded coastal zone of Java, Indonesia

Over the years the northern coast of Java has been subjected to extensive land-use change due to high population pressure. Removal of mangroves and development of aquaculture are rampant. As a consequence, many parts of the region have been flooded and submerged. It is not clear however, whether the submergence is due to sea level rise or land subsidence or both. Here, we reveal the range of surface change with high accuracy following land management strategy post conversions. Mangroves in converted area suffered the most from subsidence, which ranged between 5 and 45 mm yr^-1. Meanwhile, in protected areas, instead of subsidence, land build up or accretion which ranged between 11 and 22 mm yr^-1 were observed. These data suggest that restoring degraded mangrove should take into account the accommodation capacity of the landscape in order to secure the survival of newly introduced seedlings. In addition, the threat of sea level rise of 4.7 mm yr^-1.

Keywords: accretion rate, restoration, rSET, sea level rise, sub-surface change