INGLÉS

 Coastal Wetlands

Updated 02.28.07

Download Sonoran Wetlands from Discover Sonora Magazine

We aim to integrate scientific studies 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 and to 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 30, 000 ha.

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 and limited freshwater input (no perennial rivers reach the sea). 

Esteros in Sonora show a high biodiversity, including endemic species such as the halophytes Suaeda puertopeñascoa and Distichlis palmeri, and Gillichthys seta, the shortjaw mud-sucker.

 

  Estero La Salina

These wetlands are part of the Pacific flyway 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 Rails, Least Terns, and Snowy Plovers.

Esteros are threatened by increased urbanization and interest to convert them to other land uses, such as marinas, seaside housing, resorts, and golf courses.

Estero La Choya

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 1097 ha 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 being built around its margins. While numerous species inhabits its marshes and mudflats. Through a project funded by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation we are assessing:

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.

 

CEDO is part of the Interinstitutional  Group on Bivalve Mollusks of the state of Sonora. As part of this group, we are working on to assess the causes of farmed oyster mortality. We carry out monthly monitoring of water quality parameters in Estero Morúa and collect data taken by oyster producers in Estero Morúa and La Cinita.

As information on the biological characteristics of these wetlands is needed to understand and protect these unique sites, we are conducting Wetland Rapid Assessments to characterize the remaining wetlands 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 one oasis.  The coastal corridor is also a Ramsar site.

Upcoming book chapters:

Morzaria-Luna, H. and G. H. Danemann (In Press). Humedales del corredor costero La Asamblea - San Francisquito, Baja California. Bahia de los Angeles: recursos naturales y comunidad. Línea base 2005. G. Danemann and E. Ezcurra. Ensenada, Baja California, México, Pronatura Noroeste, Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Museo de Historia Natural de San Diego.

H. Morzaria-Luna y Barocio-León, SA. Aceptado. Vegetación Terrestre En El Corredor Costero La Asamblea - San Francisquito, Baja California. En: Danemann, G. y E. Ezcurra (eds.). En prep. Bahia de los Angeles: recursos naturales y comunidad. Línea base 2005.

Suggested readings

Brusca, R., Cudney-Bueno, R., & Moreno, M. 2004. An analysis of the Gulf of California estero and estuary systems. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson.

Carrera, E. & de la Fuente, G. 2003. Inventario y Clasificación de Humedales en México. Parte I Ducks Unlimited Mexico, Mexico, DF.

Contreras-Espinosa, F. & Warner, B.G. 2004. Ecosystem characteristics and management considerations for coastal wetlands in Mexico. Hydrobiologia, 511, 233-245.

Felger, R.S. 2000. Flora of the Gran Desierto and Rio Colorado of northwestern Mexico University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Glenn, E.P. Nagler, P.L., Brusca, R.C. and Hinojosa-Huerta, O.  2005. Coastal wetlands of the northern Gulf of California: inventory and conservation status. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Volume 16, Issue 1 , Pages 5 - 28

Sánchez Lira, M., Ed. 2005. Los humedales prioritarios de México, pp 48. Comisión Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas. Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, México, DF.

Sierra, R. & Chamberlain, J. 1999. Mapping and monitoring of coastal wetlands in Sonora, Mexico: a multi-national approach, Rep. No. NR-04. Department of Geography. Arizona State University., Phoenix.

 

Questions? info@cedointercultural.org