The research unit Systems Ecology and Resource Management seeks to understand and to predict how and why spatio-temporal dynamics in vegetation and landscape occur. It adopts a retrospective approach using relevant methods from different disciplines (tropicalbotany, very high resolution sequential remote sensing and ground truth, socio-ecologic/ethnobiological survey research, historic archive research,...), an integrative analysis (using geographical information systems, multivariate and multicriteria analyses,...) in order to generate outputs relevant for fundamental understanding of ecosystem functioning (health status, resilience) and for its management (conservation, restoration, governance). Within this framework he also emphasize biodiversity changes, climate change, ecological and ethological plant-animal interactions and man-ecosystem interactions, particularly in an attempt to early warn for ecological degradation and unsustainable exploitation practices. Mangrove forests form an important model for our research, but close links exist with adjacent ecosystems such as tropical rainforests or coral reefs. The research is done on different spatial scales from the case-study level in different countries to the macroecological level (global) and also explores the science-policy interface.
Key publications
Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Hugé, J., Abuchahla, G. M., Cannicci, S., Jayatissa, L. P., Kairo, J. G., Kodikara Arachchilage, S., Koedam, N., Mafaziya Nijamdeen, T. W., Mukherjee, N., Poti, M., Prabakaran, N., Ratsimbazafy, H. A., Satyanarayana, B., Thavanayagam, M., Vande Velde, K., & Wodehouse, D. (2021). Reconciling nature, people and policy in the mangrove social-ecological system through the adaptive cycle heuristic. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 248, 106942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106942
Vandebroek, I., Pieroni, A., Stepp, J. R., Hanazaki, N., Ladio, A., Alves, R. R. N., Picking, D., Delgoda, R., Maroyi, A., van Andel, T., Quave, C. L., Paniagua-Zambrana, N. Y., Bussmann, R. W., Odonne, G., Abbasi, A. M., Albuquerque, U. P., Baker, J., Kutz, S., Timsina, S., . . . Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2020). Reshaping the future of ethnobiology research after the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Plants, 6(7), 723–730. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-0691-6
Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Ajonina, G. N., Amir, A. A., Andradi-Brown, D. A., Aziz, I., Balke, T., Barbier, E. B., Cannicci, S., Cragg, S. M., Cunha-Lignon, M., Curnick, D. J., Duarte, C. M., Duke, N. C., Endsor, C., Fratini, S., Feller, I. C., Fromard, F., Hugé, J., Huxham, M., . . . Friess, D. A. (2020). Public Perceptions of Mangrove Forests Matter for Their Conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.603651
Friess, D. A., Yando, E. S., Abuchahla, G. M., Adams, J. B., Cannicci, S., Canty, S. W., Cavanaugh, K. C., Connolly, R. M., Cormier, N., Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Diele, K., Feller, I. C., Fratini, S., Jennerjahn, T. C., Lee, S. Y., Ogurcak, D. E., Ouyang, X., Rogers, K., Rowntree, J. K., . . . Wee, A. K. (2020). Mangroves give cause for conservation optimism, for now. Current Biology, 30(4), R153–R154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.12.054
Lucas, R., Van De Kerchove, R., Otero, V., Lagomasino, D., Fatoyinbo, L., Omar, H., Satyanarayana, B., & Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2020). Structural characterisation of mangrove forests achieved through combining multiple sources of remote sensing data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 237, 111543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111543
Mukherjee, N., J. Hugé, W.J. Sutherland, J. McNeill, M. Van Opstal, F. Dahdouh-Guebas & N. Koedam, (2015). The Delphi technique in ecology and biological conservation: applications and guidelines. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 6(9): 1097-1109. http://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X-12387
Lee, S. Y., Primavera, J. H., Dahdouh-Guebas, F., McKee, K., Bosire, J. O., Cannicci, S., Diele, K., Fromard, F., Koedam, N., Marchand, C., Mendelssohn, I., Mukherjee, N., & Record, S. (2014). Ecological role and services of tropical mangrove ecosystems: a reassessment. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 23(7), 726–743. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12155
Appeltans, W., Ahyong, S., Anderson, G., Angel, M., Artois, T., Bailly, N., Bamber, R., Barber, A., Bartsch, I., Berta, A., Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, M., Bock, P., Boxshall, G., Boyko, C., Brandão, S., Bray, R., Bruce, N., Cairns, S., Chan, T. Y., . . . Costello, M. (2012). The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology, 22(23), 2189–2202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036
Walters, B. B., Rönnbäck, P., Kovacs, J. M., Crona, B., Hussain, S. A., Badola, R., Primavera, J. H., Barbier, E., & Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2008). Ethnobiology, socio-economics and management of mangrove forests: A review. Aquatic Botany, 89(2), 220–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2008.02.009
Duke, N. C., Meynecke, J. O., Dittmann, S., Ellison, A. M., Anger, K., Berger, U., Cannicci, S., Diele, K., Ewel, K. C., Field, C. D., Koedam, N., Lee, S. Y., Marchand, C., Nordhaus, I., & Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2007). A World Without Mangroves? Science, 317(5834), 41b–42b. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.317.5834.41b
Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Jayatissa, L., Di Nitto, D., Bosire, J., Lo Seen, D., & Koedam, N. (2005). How effective were mangroves as a defence against the recent tsunami? Current Biology, 15(14), 1337–1338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.025
Dahdouh-Guebas, F., S. Hettiarachchi, S. Sooriyarachchi, D. Lo Seen, O. Batelaan, L.P Jayatissa, & N. Koedam, (2005). Transitions in ancient inland freshwater resource management in Sri Lanka affect biota and human populations in and around coastal lagoons. Current Biology 15(6): 579-586. http://doi.org/10.16/j.cub.2005.01.053