Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Thalassas, cilt.41, sa.4, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Effective wetland conservation policies rely on robust scientific and technological approaches, particularly the creation of maps using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) geospatial tools. This study focuses on the Güllük Coastal Wetland (GCW), which covers 0.60% of the Güllük Delta. In this study JPEG-format maps were digitized and updated using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In addition, high-resolution satellite images from Landsat 7 (2009) and Sentinel-2 (2023), with a spatial resolution of 10–15 m, were processed in a GIS environment using the Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) method to produce detailed Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) maps. The overall classification accuracy was calculated as 90.32% for 2009 and 86.99% for 2023. The results show fish ponds, which didn’t exist prıor to 2009 expanded significantly over time to cover 119.46 ha (18%) of the wetland by 2023. The analysis revealed that of the total GCW; 1.84 ha of the Güllük Lagoon, 21.77 ha of the stream, 17.63 ha of reed swamp and 78.46 ha of floating meadows transitioned to fish ponds. Despite its ecological significance and the presence of bird species protected under the Bern Convention, the Güllük Coastal Wetland is still currently only protection status as “other wetlands” lacking a clear conservation designation. The findings of this study provide scientific support for revisiting the area’s protection status, underliying the importance of protection zones, and offer a solid foundation for sustainable management, policy development, and future research on coastal wetland ecosystems.