Conectividad ecosistémica en un área marina protegida del Caribe Colombiano : caso de estudio ciclo de vida de Haemulon flavolineatum (migración ontogénica)

Resumen

Structural and functional connectivity has become one of the pillars for managing, designing, and conserving protected areas. Species use different ecosystems in the seascape to complete their life cycles, hence their protection as a whole as coastal areas for reproduction, breeding, feeding, or refuge. This study seeks to determine if there is evidence of structural and functional connectivity between reef, mangrove, and seagrass ecosystems, taking as a case study the life cycle of Haemulon flavolineatum in the Bahia Portete (Kaurrele) marine protected area through the analysis of the state. , the spatial configuration of ecosystems and the ontogenetic migration of H. flavolineatum. Based on the literature, the status of the three ecosystems was obtained using coral cover, grass shoot density, and mangrove individual density. In turn, based on the map of the coverage of the ecosystems and their patches, a fragmentation analysis of the landscape was carried out using Fragstats. Finally, based on the literature on the life history and ontogenetic migration of H. flavolineatum, the potential functional connectivity between ecosystems of the bay was evaluated. Deterioration was found in the conservation status of grasses and reefs in the study area and little information on mangroves to define their status. For the spatial configuration, the reefs are the least represented in terms of relative occupation area in the Bay (1.43% of the total area), they also have the least number of patches (6) and the greatest distance to the nearest neighbor ( 157.18 meters). While the seagrass has the highest coverage (8.93% of the total area), they present the highest number of patches (197) and the highest level of fragmentation in the North zone. Finally, the mangrove is the ecosystem with the largest patch size (228.15 hectares), the shortest distance to the nearest neighbor (23.92 meters), and the patches with the greatest complexity of shape - Shape Index (5.37) in the South area of ​​the bay. The structural connectivity for each ecosystem in the range of distances from 100 to 1000 m was less than 40% of connection and at the landscape level, the contagion was lower (58%) than the intercropping (76%). The functional connectivity for H. flavolineatum during its migration from seagrasses to mangroves is given in three disconnected zones: south, central, and north. Higher potential connectivity was obtained in the southern zone with a greater number of links (104 links) at distances between 0 to 100 m (48 links). For the migration from mangroves to reefs, the bay is fully connected by these two ecosystems with greater links at distances between 8 to 14 km (124 links) and more feasible connectivity due to greater links between 0 to 4 km in the southern zone. In conclusion, there is evidence of both structural and functional connectivity for H. flavolineatum in Bahia Portete because its spatial configuration facilitates structural connectivity between reef, seagrass, and mangrove ecosystems. This favors the potential of functional connectivity for the species, especially in the southern zone compared to the central and northern zone of the bay. The conservation of the ecosystems in the southern area and the restoration mainly in the northern area is recommended.