Rocky Habitats

Rocky habitats are abundant in the Northern Gulf of California, found as isolated patches of sub or inter tidal reef surrounded by sandy and muddy bottoms. They offer hard substrates where a diversity of organisms thrives. Breeding aggregations of snails and groupers use these sites as well, attracting commercial and recreational fisheries.

Rocky habitats are important for fisheries, although now threatened by an increase in fishing effort. Sport fishing, recreational diving, collection and destruction of organisms also impact the region’s reefs.
CEDO has organized meetings with regional experts to determine how much is known about rocky habitats and their indicator species in the Northern Gulf. We identified rocky habitats in the region, indicator species, and the relevant biological, ecological and socioeconomic processes. We are looking at the current state of populations, as well as current research efforts.

Data on indicator species and habitats will be combined with biophysical and socioeconomic information into a database. This database will be used in community based management and conservation efforts.     
An example of this initiative is CEDO's project with commercial divers  to define a long-term strategy for sustainable fishing at Isla San Jorge, the Sandy Beach reef and other subtidal reefs.
Additionally, CEDO has monitored the intertidal zone in Puerto Peñasco for almost 20 years, compiling a data on changes in species’ diversity and abundance in the region.       

Visit the Northern Gulf’s rocky habitats and learn more about the species in these habitats?

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Coastal Wetlands

Our wetland studies aim to integrate scientific data with socioeconomic and historical analyses to produce the first assessment of biodiversity, food web relationships, and the role of humans for the Northern Gulf’s wetlands. Our efforts increase stakeholder understanding of wetland function and interest in maintaining its natural state.    
In the Northern Gulf of California non-mangrove salt marshes known as esteros (hypersaline lagoons or negative estuaries) are the predominant wetland type. Along the coast of Sonora, esteros cover nearly 145,000 hectares.

Esteros are characterized by a tidal range of 5-10 m (vertical amplitude), and higher salinity at their head than at their mouth due to high evaporation rates and limited freshwater input (no perennial rivers reach the sea). 

Esteros in Sonora show a high biodiversity, including endemic species such as the halophyte plants Suaeda puertopeñascoa and Distichlis palmeri, and the short jaw mud-sucker (Gillichthys seta).
Download Sonoran Wetlands from Discover Sonora Magazine

Estero La Salina  

These wetlands are part of the Pacific flyway for migratory birds and link the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta with mangrove wetlands further south. Esteros are also important reproduction and nesting sites for non-migratory species, including the federally protected Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris yumanensis) and least tern (Sternula antillarum).

Esteros are threatened by increased urbanization and interest in wetland conversion for marinas, seaside housing, resorts, and golf courses.
Estero La Cholla   

Our main questions are:
1. Which are the essential habitats?
2. What are the functions and environmental services of wetlands?
3. What are the key species?
4. What is the connection of wetlands with other ecosystems?
Our model wetland is Estero Morúa, a 1,097 hectare wetland located near CEDO's field station in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. Estero Morúa illustrates the environmental and conservation challenges of wetlands in the Northern Gulf. A variety of stakeholders use the site. There are working oyster farms within it and it is partly surrounded by residential developments; new high-density condominiums are in construction near the water’s edge. Through a project funded mainly by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation we are assessing the following aspects of wetland biodiversity and functions:
 
Upland vegetation     
Wetland plant community composition
 
Seasonal use by resident and migrant birds     
Visitor's use of the wetland
 
CEDO participates in developing human capacity in the Northern Gulf. Senior thesis students at CEDO work to understand spatial and seasonal variation of benthic invertebrates in Estero Morúa and trophic interactions in three wetlands: Morúa, Cerro Prieto and La Salina.       
Wetlands of the Northern Gulf are critical breeding habitat for least terns, Sternula antillarum, a federally protected shorebird. CEDO is analyzing least tern habitat use and vulnerability given projected changes in land use.     

CEDO is part of the Inter-institutional Group on Bivalve Mollusks of the state of Sonora led by the Instituto de Acuacultura del Estado de Sonora. As part of this group, we are working to assess the causes of farmed oyster mortality. We carry out monthly monitoring of water quality in Estero Morúa and collect data taken by oyster producers in Esteros Morúa and La Cinita.
As information on the biological characteristics of these wetlands is needed to understand and protect these unique ecosystems, we are conducting Wetland Rapid Assessments to characterize the remaining sites in the region.

CEDO also works on wetland projects with other institutions
In collaboration with Pronatura Noroeste we characterized the coastal wetlands in the newly declared Biosphere Reserve in the coastal corridor between Punta La Asamblea and Punta San Francisquito, and in the islands of Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California. The wetlands in this region are negative estuaries, mangroves, hypersaline lagoons and include one oasis.  The coastal corridor is also a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.