Environmental and socioeconomic assessment of a poorly known coastal section in the southern Mexican Caribbean
The Uvero-Punta Piedras section, a low-developed coastal strip located in the southern area of Quintana Roo, Mexico, is experiencing habitat degradation driven by unplanned population sprawl, unregulated tourism expansion and overfishing. The main objective of this study is to provide an environmental (coastal vegetation and coral reef condition) and socioeconomic (human population condition) baseline data of a poorly documented and weakly managed zone by the use of a set of rapid assessment methodologies, looking to assist the regional efforts to manage these coastal resources. To achieve this goal we used a series of surveying methods including remote sensing, geographic information systems and in situ land/underwater surveys, to allow a broad characterization of the resources' condition in the study zone. Results showed that reef habitat was dominated by macro-algae (61.2 ± 7.6%), followed by soft coral (gorgonians, 12.4 ± 4.1%), hard coral (8.2 ± 5.1%) and sponges (2.5 ± 1.3%). Zooanthids and tunicates represented less than 1% of the total; coral and macro algae estimates suggest a decline from records of 15 years ago. Highest fish densities were (144 ± 124 individuals/100 m2), while lowest were (83 ± 25 individuals/100 m2).
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | Arrecifes de coral, Cobertura vegetal, Fragmentación de hábitats, Factores socioeconómicos, Evaluación ecológica (Biología), Artfrosur, |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569115000575 |
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