TY - JOUR
T1 - Outstanding appearance of Ruppia maritima along Baja California Sur, México and its influence in trophic networks
AU - Lopez-Calderon, Jorge
AU - Riosmena-Rodríguez, Rafael
AU - Rodríguez-Baron, Juan M.
AU - Carrión-Cortez, Javier
AU - Torre, Jorge
AU - Meling-López, Alf
AU - Hinojosa-Arango, Gustavo
AU - Hernández-Carmona, Gustavo
AU - García-Hernández, Jaqueline
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the key financial and logistical support provided by The School for Field Studies (SFS) Center for Coastal Studies. We wish to thank to the ‘Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program’ (Dr J Urban and Dr S Swartz) for their support. R.R.R. thanks the ‘Project CONACYT-SEMARNAT’ for the support throughout this research. A.M.L. thanks to the Project CONACYT-SEMARNAT-C01-1434 for the field-work funding. G.H.C. expresses his thanks to ‘Comisión de Operación y Fomento de Actividades Académicas del IPN (COFAA)’ and to the program ‘Estímulo al Desempeño de los Investigadores del IPN (EDI)’ for the fellowship granted. J.M.R.B. thanks to the people from LSI, BMA, and PAO who participate with Grupo Tortuguero de las Californias A.C. Thanks to Elena Holguin for her valuable help with the sampling at Santa Clara Wetland. We thank the comments of three anonymous reviewers who helped to improve this article. J.L.C. was supported by CONACYT grant 41393.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Human impact and global warming are driving major modifications to the world's ecosystems, the coastal zone being one of the most damaged. Seagrass meadows constitute coastal communities that have experienced great losses worldwide. The dominant seagrass in the meadows of the Pacific coast of North America is Zostera marina. There is evidence that Z. marina has been replaced in some places by the opportunistic seagrass Ruppia maritima with important implications for the trophic connections of local ecosystems. In México, there are few reports on the distribution and loss of seagrass meadows. Here, we report on the importance that R. maritima has gained in three wetlands of northwest México, replacing Z. marina and modifying local trophic networks. We made extensive samplings on Z. marina and R. maritima meadows, recording shoot density and marking their spatial distribution with GPS. We included information on the presence of R. maritima at other wetlands of northwest México from historical reviews and current sampling. R. maritima was recorded in 29 localities, 3 of which are new records. Their shoot density and spatial coverage were highest in late fall and decreased in late spring, while Z. marina meadows increased after the reduction of R. maritima meadows. R. maritima now constitutes a primary food source for green turtles in the sampled wetlands, something unprecedented a few years ago. Improvement of wetland management plans is needed to stop environmental degradation, R. maritima invasion, and the loss of ecosystem functions.
AB - Human impact and global warming are driving major modifications to the world's ecosystems, the coastal zone being one of the most damaged. Seagrass meadows constitute coastal communities that have experienced great losses worldwide. The dominant seagrass in the meadows of the Pacific coast of North America is Zostera marina. There is evidence that Z. marina has been replaced in some places by the opportunistic seagrass Ruppia maritima with important implications for the trophic connections of local ecosystems. In México, there are few reports on the distribution and loss of seagrass meadows. Here, we report on the importance that R. maritima has gained in three wetlands of northwest México, replacing Z. marina and modifying local trophic networks. We made extensive samplings on Z. marina and R. maritima meadows, recording shoot density and marking their spatial distribution with GPS. We included information on the presence of R. maritima at other wetlands of northwest México from historical reviews and current sampling. R. maritima was recorded in 29 localities, 3 of which are new records. Their shoot density and spatial coverage were highest in late fall and decreased in late spring, while Z. marina meadows increased after the reduction of R. maritima meadows. R. maritima now constitutes a primary food source for green turtles in the sampled wetlands, something unprecedented a few years ago. Improvement of wetland management plans is needed to stop environmental degradation, R. maritima invasion, and the loss of ecosystem functions.
KW - Aquatic plants
KW - Eelgrass
KW - Invasive species
KW - Marine protected areas
KW - Sea turtles
KW - Wigeongrass
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78049528546&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12526-010-0050-3
DO - 10.1007/s12526-010-0050-3
M3 - Artículo
SN - 1867-1616
VL - 40
SP - 293
EP - 300
JO - Marine Biodiversity
JF - Marine Biodiversity
IS - 4
ER -