Spatial identification, mapping, and prioritization of ecosystem services in Iran's mangrove landscapes

Despite the widespread recognition of mangroves as multifunctional social–-ecological systems, spatially explicit assessments that integrate ecosystem service (ES) identification, prioritization, and zoning remain limited, particularly in arid and semi-arid coastal regions. In this study, we developed and applied an integrated spatial framework to identify, map, weight, and prioritize potential ES supply/capacity across 19 mangrove habitats along the southern coasts of Iran. The framework combined proxy-based ES identification, GIS- and InVEST-based spatial mapping, Analytic Network Process (ANP) weighting, and expert rapid assessment. A total of 521 ES occurrences were identified across the study area, encompassing provisioning (18.4%), regulating (17.5%), supporting (32.4%), and cultural services (31.7%). ES richness varied among habitats, with the highest richness observed in the Qeshm Coast habitat (39 services) and the lowest richness in the Bordekhon habitat (18 services). Supporting services had the highest global priority weight (0.351), followed by cultural, provisioning, and regulating services. Spatial zoning identified approximately 1.23 million ha of mangrove-related landscape representing potential ES supply/capacity, including 266,420 ha associated with provisioning services, 223,588 ha with regulating services, 423,557 ha with supporting services, and 311,757 ha with cultural services. Within the supporting-service zone, 214,065 ha were classified as high priority, representing 50.5% of its total area. These results show that supporting services were both the most highly weighted and the most spatially dominant ES category across Iran's mangrove landscapes. Beyond the national context, the study presents a transferable framework for integrating ES richness, relative importance, and spatial prioritization in mangrove ecosystems. This framework can support ecosystem-based management, conservation prioritization, and sustainable coastal planning, particularly in mangrove regions undergoing rapid development and environmental change.