Spatial heterogeneity and seasonal structure of physical factors and benthic species in a tropical coastal lagoon, Celestun, Yucatan Peninsula

Springs are common features on the Yucatán coast. They can discharge either under the sea (submarine) or inland in coastal lagoons and wetlands. Previous observations of a coastal lagoon located on the northern Yucatán Peninsula (La Carbonera) reported sea water intrusion on a spring that discharge on a coastal lagoon (lagoon tidal spring). The saltwater intrusion occurs when the tide is at its lower level, which is the opposite to what has been reported for submarine springs in the Yucatán Peninsula. In this study, the hydrodynamics of the spring is analyzed and the driving forces controlling the seawater intrusion are identified and discussed. Time series of water levels, salinity, and velocity measurements in the lagoon, the aquifer, and the spring are analyzed by means of tide component decomposition and cross-correlations analysis of the tide signals. Results show that the main driving forces causing the intrusion are the density differences and pressure head gradients, and the mechanisms influencing the driving forces driving those differences are the tides, the friction in the lagoon, and the confinement of the aquifer; other mechanisms are discussed to present a complete idea of the complexity of the interactions between the coastal aquifer, the coastal lagoons, and the sea.

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Influence of two polarization potentials on a bioanode microbial community isolated from a hypersaline coastal lagoon of the Yucatan peninsula, in México

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.120 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 681 ◽

pp. 258-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Raul Tapia-Tussell ◽

Raul E. Valle-Gough ◽

Isaías Peraza-Baeza ◽

Jorge Domínguez-Maldonado ◽

Muriel Gonzalez-Muñoz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Coastal Lagoon ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Hypersaline Coastal Lagoon

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Temporal trends in benthic macrofauna composition in response to seasonal variation in a tropical coastal lagoon, Celestun, Gulf of Mexico

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf07189 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 59 (9) ◽

pp. 772 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Norma A. Hernández-Guevara ◽

Daniel Pech ◽

Pedro-Luis Ardisson

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Coastal Lagoon ◽

Benthic Community ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Community Response ◽

Benthic Macrofauna ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

Physical Factors ◽

Tropical Coastal Lagoon ◽

Habitat Variation

Aquatic habitats in some tropical coastal environments can change seasonally, causing changes in the community structure of the benthic macrofauna. A tropical coastal lagoon, the Celestun lagoon, on the north-west Yucatan peninsula, was sampled seasonally and faunal, water and sediment data were compared with conditions during the 1994–1995 weather cycle across a grid of 12 sites distributed along the lagoon’s salinity gradient. Habitat variation was expressed as physical factors associated with the water column (e.g. salinity) and bottom sediments (e.g. interstitial salinity, texture), whereas the benthic community response was assessed through changes in species composition, diversity and dominance. Taxonomic dominance varied according to changes in seasonal habitat characteristics. During the season of strong northerly winds (‘nortes’), molluscs dominated and polychaetes almost disappeared. Polychaetes then recovered during the dry season, becoming as common as crustaceans and molluscs. Finally, during the rainy season, polychaetes became the dominant group and molluscs declined. A conceptual model summarising the community structure changes associated with key physical and biotic factors is proposed. The results indicate that the benthic community of the Celestun lagoon is a resilient one, largely driven by natural weather variability in this tropical ecosystem to a greater extent than previously suggested.

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