Evidence of negative impacts of ecological tourism on turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) beds in a marine protected area of the Mexican Caribbean

Herrera-Silveira, JA; Cebrian, J; Hauxwell, J; Ramirez-Ramirez, J; Ralph, P

Evidence of negative impacts of ecological tourism on turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) beds in a marine protected area of the Mexican Caribbean

Herrera-Silveira, JA Cebrian, J Hauxwell, J Ramirez-Ramirez, J Ralph, P

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Aquatic Ecology, 2010, 44 (1), pp. 23 - 31
Issue Date:: 2010-02-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Herrera-Silveira, JA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cebrian, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hauxwell, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ramirez-Ramirez, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ralph, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3103-7346	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-02-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Aquatic Ecology, 2010, 44 (1), pp. 23 - 31	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1386-2588	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11799
dc.description.abstract	Many marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established in recent years. Some MPAs are open to tourists to foster environmental education and generate revenue for the MPA. This has been coined "ecological tourism". Here, we examine the impact of ecological tourism on turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) health in one area of the "Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún y Punta Nizuc" MPA in the Mexican Caribbean. A heavily visited location was compared with an unvisited location. Turtlegrass leaves at the visited location were sparser, shorter, grew more slowly, and had more epiphytes than at the unvisited location. Vertical and horizontal rhizomes of turtlegrass also grew more slowly at the visited than at the unvisited location. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that the observed differences are likely due to the deleterious impacts of novice and careless snorkelers. If continuing, these impacts could cause severe degradation of the visited areas in this MPA and, thus, changes in management policies seem in order. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Aquatic Ecology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s10452-009-9260-9	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	en_US
dc.title	Evidence of negative impacts of ecological tourism on turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) beds in a marine protected area of the Mexican Caribbean	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	44	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	44	en_US

Abstract:

Many marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established in recent years. Some MPAs are open to tourists to foster environmental education and generate revenue for the MPA. This has been coined "ecological tourism". Here, we examine the impact of ecological tourism on turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) health in one area of the "Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún y Punta Nizuc" MPA in the Mexican Caribbean. A heavily visited location was compared with an unvisited location. Turtlegrass leaves at the visited location were sparser, shorter, grew more slowly, and had more epiphytes than at the unvisited location. Vertical and horizontal rhizomes of turtlegrass also grew more slowly at the visited than at the unvisited location. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that the observed differences are likely due to the deleterious impacts of novice and careless snorkelers. If continuing, these impacts could cause severe degradation of the visited areas in this MPA and, thus, changes in management policies seem in order. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11799