Rapid tourism growth and declining coral reefs in Akumal, Mexico

Gil, Michael A.; Renfro, Bobbie; Figueroa-Zavala, Baruch; Penié, Iván; Dunton, Kenneth H.

doi:10.1007/s00227-015-2748-z

Cited by 69 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Noise from small boats can have lethal ecological and physiological effects on coral reef organisms, with known consequences ranging from larval recruitment (Holles et al, 2013;) and cognition (Ferrari et al, 2018) to behavior (Holmes et al, 2017;McCormick et al, 2018;Nedelec et al, 2017), and embryonic development (Jain-Schlaepfer et al, 2018;Nedelec et al, 2014). The data presented here suggest there is potential for these effects to already be manifesting, even within national parks, and will continue to exacerbate with increasing demand for tourist activities on coral reefs (Gil et al, 2015;Piggott-McKellar & McNamara, 2017). The U.S. National Parks Service (NPS) addresses threats associated with anthropogenic noise through the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division ("Natural Sounds (U.S. National Park Service)").…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Multiscale spatio-temporal patterns of boat noise on U.S. Virgin Island coral reefs

Dinh

Suca

Lillis

et al. 2018

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Sound-sensitive organisms are abundant on coral reefs. Accordingly, experiments suggest that boat noise could elicit adverse effects on coral reef organisms. Yet, there are few data quantifying boat noise prevalence on coral reefs. We use long-term passive acoustic recordings at nine coral reefs and one sandy comparison site in a marine protected area to quantify spatio-temporal variation in boat noise and its effect on the soundscape. Boat noise was most common at reefs with high coral cover and fish density, and temporal patterns reflected patterns of human activity. Boat noise significantly increased low-frequency sound levels at the monitored sites. With boat noise present, the peak frequencies of the natural soundscape shifted from higher frequencies to the lower frequencies frequently used in fish communication. Taken together, the spectral overlap between boat noise and fish communication and the elevated boat detections on reefs with biological densities raises concern for coral reef organisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Multiscale spatio-temporal patterns of boat noise on U.S. Virgin Island coral reefs

Dinh

Suca

Lillis

et al. 2018

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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“…Akumal Bay (Gil et al, 2015;Renfro and Chadwick, 2017) and documented sources of anthropogenic nutrient input to Akumal waters (Hernández-Terrones et al, 2015).…”

Section: Limitations and Other Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patterns of coral ecosystem degradation in Akumal mirror past Caribbean region-wide decline of herbivores and corals from overfishing, hurricanes, and disease (Roy, 2004). Additionally, heavy coastal development and remarkable increases in tourism-based activities over the past decade are associated with deteriorating reef conditions in Akumal Bay, particularly in the backreef lagoon that is frequently visited by tourists (Gil et al, 2015;Figueroa-Zavala and Munoz Arroyo, 2018). Conservation efforts resulted in a fish sanctuary being announced in 2015 (Yucatan Times, 2019) and a larger (1,653 hectare) Marine Refuge for Protected Species in 2016 (Official Gazette of the Federation, 2016), yet formal protection and management measures are still being developed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Elkhorn Coral Populations and Associated Herbivores in Akumal, Mexico

et al. 2019

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Coral decline in the Caribbean is marked by the loss of habitat-forming corals, such as elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). Elkhorn coral recovery has been isolated and patchy, but recently a "re-sheeting" phenomenon, in which elkhorn tissue grows over standing dead coral skeletons, was observed along the reefs in the Mexican Yucatán peninsula. Little is known about the ecological factors contributing to "re-sheeting," but it is hypothesized that grazing from herbivores provides top-down control of algal growth and promotes coral recovery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of elkhorn populations in Akumal, Mexico and determine if Diadema urchins or parrotfish populations are associated with higher elkhorn abundance and lower algal cover. To achieve this objective, we surveyed 12 spur and groove reef sites in Akumal, where re-sheeting was recently observed, and measured elkhorn coral and herbivore population metrics. We found that both herbivore groups are associated with increasing elkhorn coral presence and cover, and lower macroalgal cover. Additionally, we tested for sampling bias in counting Diadema urchins and found that a significant difference in urchins counts between paired day and night transects on shallow, high complexity reefs. Our results suggest that historically important herbivore groups may be contributing to the recovery of elkhorn coral in Akumal by facilitating tissue re-sheeting.

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“…Fishing is not the only threat to marine ecosystems, and may not even be the major threat in some places. In coral reef ecosystems, where overfishing of certain functional groups (most especially herbivores and apex predators) has without question adversely affected biodiversity, productivity, and resilience to global warming, tourism impacts and poor land use practices on the coast may be at least as damaging as fishing in driving degradation, yet these are often overlooked (Sale et al, 2014;Gil et al, 2015).…”

Section: Old Dangers In New Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Dangerous Targets’ revisited: Old dangers in new contexts plague marine protected areas

Agardy

Claudet

Day

2016

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. The use of targets to provide measurable objectives and benchmarks for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems is commonplace. In the marine and coastal realms, targets have been successful in setting sustainable limits to fisheries harvests, thresholds for pollutants, and recommended amounts of representative habitat included in marine protected area (MPA) networks. Quantifiable targets can dissuade governments from making dubious claims about investments in ocean protection that sound impressive but cannot be verified. Examples are presented where protection targets have been used successfully for marine management, and instances where measurable and meaningful benchmarks serve to allow tracking of true progress.2. However, the setting of targets can also be a double-edged sword. In some cases, targets have proven useful, but in many instances, interventions made to fulfil targets not only give a false illusion of progress or even success, they present opportunity costs that impede further conservation.3. Some of these issues were raised in the 2003 article 'Dangerous Targets?: Unresolved issues and ideological clashes around marine protected areas' that appeared in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Since its publication, the article's warnings about how targets can sometimes be dangerous and counter-productive have led to intense debate among scientists and policy-makers alike, and the paper has been cited in more than 500 publications. Yet today, more than a dozen years after the first 'Dangerous Targets' publication, new targets are driving more MPA designations and conservation strategies than ever before, and the 'dangerous' aspects of target setting have been largely ignored.4. This paper discusses old 'dangers' in the context of new developments in marine conservation, including the lingering problem of having simplistic metrics drive marine policies, and the unintended result that can often occur when outputs (percentage of area under MPA designation) do not align with true outcomes of effective management and conservation. Newly emerging 'dangers' in letting areal targets (percentage of area under MPA designation) drive MPA designations are also discussed, including how the rush to fulfil obligations to protect a certain proportion of area is taking place in planning, separate from broader level, and potentially more holistic, marine spatial planning (MSP).5. The paper suggests five recommendations that would allow policy-makers to use targets more effectively, including: (1) increase transparency in planning, especially around specific goals and objectives of MPA establishment; (2) use time-based areal targets when representativity is a goal of the protected area strategy; (3) use MPAs when spatial protections are the best solution to the management challenge; (4) design MPAs with intrinsic performance goals, and use performance-based metrics in subsequent evaluation of MPAs; and (5) embed MPA planning into broader policy frameworks, including MSP. The...

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Rapid tourism growth and declining coral reefs in Akumal, Mexico

Cited by 69 publications

References 36 publications

Multiscale spatio-temporal patterns of boat noise on U.S. Virgin Island coral reefs

Multiscale spatio-temporal patterns of boat noise on U.S. Virgin Island coral reefs

Assessment of Elkhorn Coral Populations and Associated Herbivores in Akumal, Mexico

‘Dangerous Targets’ revisited: Old dangers in new contexts plague marine protected areas

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