Octavio Pérez-Maqueo

The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Hurricane Protection

Abstract Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes on coastal communities. A regression model using 34 major US hurricanes since 1980 with the natural log of damage per unit gross domestic product in the hurricane swath as the dependent variable and the natural logs of wind speed and wetland area in the swath as the independent variables was highly significant and explained 60% of the variation in relative damages. A loss of 1 ha of wetland in the model corresponded to an average USD 33 000 (median = USD 5000) increase in storm damage from specific storms. Using this relationship, and taking into account the annual probability of hits by hurricanes of varying intensities, we mapped the annual value of coastal wetlands by 1km × 1km pixel and by state. The annual value ranged from USD 250 to USD 51 000 ha−1 yr−1, with a mean of USD 8240 ha−1 yr−1 (median = USD 3230 ha−1 yr−1) significantly larger than previous estimates. Coastal wetlands in the US were estimated to currently provide USD 23.2 billion yr−1 in storm protection services. Coastal wetlands function as valuable, selfmaintaining “horizontal levees” for storm protection, and also provide a host of other ecosystem services that vertical levees do not. Their restoration and preservation is an extremely cost-effective strategy for society.

Evaluating the environmental impact of payments for ecosystem services in Coatepec (Mexico) using remote sensing and on-site interviews

Over the last decade, hundreds of payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes have been initiated around the world, but evidence of their environmental benefits remains limited. In this study, two PES programmes operating in the municipality of Coatepec (Mexico) were evaluated to assess their effectiveness in protecting the regions endangered upland forests. Landsat satellite data were analysed to assess changes in forest cover before and after programme implementation using a difference-in-differences estimator. Additionally, surveys and interviews were conducted with local residents and a subset of PES programme participants to evaluate the programmes’ social and environmental impacts, particularly the effect of the programmes on landowner behaviour. The remote-sensing data show that deforestation was substantially lower on properties receiving PES payments compared to properties not enrolled in the programmes, but the programmes did not prevent the net loss of forests within Coatepec. Moreover, the on-site interviews suggest that the payments may have had little impact on deforestation rates, and that other factors contributed to the conservation of forests in PES properties. These findings suggest that risk-targeted payments, robust monitoring and enforcement programmes, and additional conservation initiatives should be included in all PES schemes to ensure environmental effectiveness.

The Coasts and Their Costs

Sandy beaches and coastal dunes throughout the world are threatened by human encroachment, and as they are lost, so are the ecosystem services provided by them. Because the economic value of ecosystem services has seldom been assessed, the ecological and socioeconomic consequences of the degradation or destruction of beaches and coastal dunes remain largely unknown. We performed an intensive literature review and found only 18 studies in which ecosystem services from the beach and coastal dunes had been analyzed and their economic value calculated. Recreation, cultural, and aesthetic ecosystem services were those most widely studied and with the highest values. Protection has also been studied, but, surprisingly, the economic value of this ecosystem service assigned by society was smaller. Restoration of coastal dunes is becoming an increasingly necessary and increasingly expensive activity. The activities involved in restoration actions are quite diverse, although there are three goals: restoring natural dynamics, recreational/aesthetic, and protective. Removal of unwanted vegetation seems to be amongst the most expensive restoration activities. The paradox in current development trends on beaches and coastal dunes is that the coasts are over-exploited, but, by doing this, the ecosystem services that we value the most and that drive exploitation trends (recreation, aesthetic, and protection) are degraded or lost. This dead-end situation is the result of ecosystem services not being considered in the decision-making process, and a few ecosystem services being over-exploited while others are ignored. Evidence shows that, before investing in coastal dune restoration, natural ecosystems should be preserved in their own integrity, with the additional benefits that they provide to society. Economically, socially, and ecologically, conservation is a better choice than degradation followed by restoration.

Facilitative interactions on coastal dunes in response to seasonal weather fluctuations and benefactor size

Abstract: We analyzed spatial plant-plant associations (during three seasons: nortes, dry, and rainy) and performed a field experiment on seedling survival, in order to test whether the occurrence of facilitation varied in response to seasonal weather fluctuations and to benefactor size. In a mobile dune system (central Gulf of Mexico) we focused on the endemic early colonizer shrub Chamaecrista chamaecristoides and two late colonizer bunch grasses. Total shrub cover and density were highest during the rainy period. Density of adult Trachypogon plumosus, but not that of adult Schizachyrium scoparium, was higher beneath the canopy of the shrub. No seasonal variations in spatial associations were observed. Density of grass seedlings decreased during the nortes beneath and beyond the canopy of C. chamaecristoides. Fitness parameters of both grasses improved beneath the benefactor plants, while sand accretion decreased. The number of grass individuals benefiting from facilitation increased with shrub size except for the largest shrubs, which had a reduced density of grasses. Temperature on the sand surface was lowest beneath the larger shrubs. Our results highlight the importance of different life stages at which facilitation may occur together with a varying effect of benefactor size in the overall role of facilitation in structuring communities.

Ecosystem Services Provided by Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems: Storm Protection as a Service from Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems

Proper responses to hurricanes are becoming increasingly necessary because they are occurring on an unprecedented scale with human and economic losses being greater than ever. This scenario calls for a reevaluation of the value of natural ecosystems as protective agents against the impacts of storms and hurricanes. In this chapter, we analyze and show the evidence on the effectiveness of these natural protective barriers. Disaster preparedness must go beyond emergency relief and life-saving actions, and should begin with mitigation and prevention that include a combination of environmental, social, and economic aspects.

Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability

The La Antigua watershed drains into the Gulf of Mexico and can be considered as one of the most important areas in Mexico because of its high productivity, history, and biodiversity, although poverty remains high in the area in spite of these positive attributes. In this study, we performed an integrated assessment of the watershed to recommend a better direction toward a sustainable management in which the four capitals (natural, human, social, and built) are balanced. We contrasted these four capitals in the municipalities of the upper, middle and lower watershed and found that natural capital (natural ecosystems and ecosystem services) was higher in the upper and middle watershed, while human and social capitals (literacy, health, education and income) were generally higher downstream. Overall, Human Development Index was negatively correlated with the percentage of natural ecosystems in the watershed, especially in the upper and lower watershed regions. Our results indicate that natural capital must be fully considered in projections for increasing human development, so that natural resources can be preserved and managed adequately while sustaining intergenerational well-being.

Visual programming languages as a tool to identify and communicate the effects of a development project evaluated by means of an environmental impact assessment

Abstract One of the most important requisites in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) is that the evaluation and communication of impacts must be done with objectivity and transparency. Traditional methods as checklists, matrices, geographic information systems (GISs), and cause–effect diagrams fail to reach this objective because, in general, it is difficult to follow the assumptions and rationale behind the evaluation process. In this paper, we show how the use of visual programming languages (VPLs) is a useful tool that can enhances the quality of these studies. The pros and cons of this approach are evaluated based on a study case of a thermoelectric generation plant.

The Role of Social Networks in the Sustainability Transformation of Cabo Pulmo: A Multiplex Perspective

ABSTRACT Langle-Flores, A.; Ocelík, P., and Pérez-Maqueo, O., 2017. The role of social networks in the sustainability transformation of Cabo Pulmo: A multiplex perspective. In: Martinez, M.L.; Taramelli, A., and Silva, R. (eds.), Coastal Resilience: Exploring the Many Challenges from Different Viewpoints. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 77, pp. 134–142. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Coastal tourism is often caught in a crossfire between economic benefits, ecological impacts and social tensions. Development of large-scale resorts can reduce the provision of certain ecosystem services and threat local peoples livelihoods. Social networks might influence the transitions of governance systems into new adaptive models. We focus on the role of multiplex networks in the process of sustainability transformation by examining social networks that protected a marine reserve against the construction of a large scale development. The multiplex network exhibited a structure with five blocks: “scale-crossing brokers”, “visible leaders”, “ecosystem managers”, “visionaries” and “public sector”. This last block was structurally isolated from the rest of organizations. Multiplex networks facilitated the coordinated mobilization of information and resources across spatial scales. “Scale-crossing brokers” with the aid of “visible leaders” propelled up the local conflict toward national and global arenas, affecting the decision of Mexicos federal government to annul large scale resorts construction. Understanding the social processes that enable adaptive governance systems is crucial for sustainability transformations and resilience of coastal ecosystems.

Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity and Land Use Change, New Insights to the Payments for Ecosystem Services Programs: a Case Study from a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Watershed in Eastern Central Mexico

Water infiltration into soil is a complex process that in field conditions varies for every precipitation event (Wit, 2001) due mainly to its dependence of antecedent soil moisture (Cerda, 1995; Lassen & Lull, 1951). Some authors use saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) as a descriptor of the infiltration process (Wit, 2001; Ziegler, et al., 2004). This hydrophysical variable allows field based comparison between sites with different initial moisture contents and soil characteristics. Several researches report differences in infiltration and Ks, associated to vegetation patches (Cerda & Doerr, 2005), land use change patterns (Buytaert, et al., 2005; Tobon, et al., 2004; Ziegler, et al., 2004) and vegetation recovery (Li & Shao, 2006; Zimmermann & Elsenbeer, 2008). This trend has been reported in many different ecosystems and vegetation types ranging from tropical rain forests (Zimmermann & Elsenbeer, 2008) to semiarid and Mediterranean shrublands (Cerda & Doerr, 2005; Li & Shao, 2006). Differences can be marginal or up to several orders of magnitude (Li & Shao, 2006). This allowed the possibility of using land use and plant cover as an indicative variable of the infiltration process. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes include in most cases a “consumer” that pays the “provider” for maintaining the ecosystem functions that generate the ecosystem services in question. Perhaps, two of the most common examples of payment for ecosystem services are the carbon sequestration programs (Ordonez, et al., 2008) and the hydrologic service initiatives (Naranjo & Murgueitio, 2006). In Mexico, the Federal Government has recently developed a strategy of payment for ecosystem services (PES) which encompass biodiversity, carbon sequestration and hydrologic ecosystem services. The Mexican program in 2008 had the largest budget worldwide for such an initiative (60 millions US dollars) (CONAFOR, 2008). While an important step in the incorporation of economics to conservation, some authors pointed out

Coastal Dunes and Plants: An Ecosystem-Based Alternative to Reduce Dune Face Erosion

ABSTRACT Martínez, M.L.; Silva, R.; Mendoza, E.; Odériz, I., and Pérez-Maqueo, O.M., 2016. Coastal dunes and plants: an ecosystem-based alternative to reduce dune face erosion.. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 303–307. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Future scenarios indicate that growing human encroachment on coasts, more frequent and stronger storms and sea level rise will result in worsening coastal squeeze. In consequence, human lives, property and infrastructure, as well as ecosystem services, will increasingly be threatened. It is therefore vital to find the means to maintain or increase the resilience and resistance of coastal zones. As an alternative to hard infrastructure, ecosystem-based coastal defense strategies have been recommended as better and more sustainable solutions. Thus, the goal of this study was to understand the interaction of dune plants with waves, dunes and humans. We used a pantropical beach plant (Ipomoea pes-caprae).and performed 24 wave flume experiments with two beach-dune profiles, four densities of vegetation cover, and three storm regimes. We also tested tolerance to burial in seed germination and seedling growth and finally explored the impact of tourism on Ipomoea. Erosion regimes of collision and overwash were observed in the dune profiles with a berm, whereas swash and overwash regimes were observed when no berm was present. Plant cover prevented overwash and thereby erosion of the landward side of the dune. Positive responses in seeds and seedlings of Ipomoea to burial by sand enable this plant to act as a dune builder. In conditions with low tourism, Ipomoea seems to be more affected by seasonal and meteorological conditions than by trampling. These responses increase further the potential for coastal protection of Ipomoea and, thus, such an ecosystem-based protective structure can be self-sustainable.