Susana Perera-Valderrama

Cartagena Convention Secretariat | Caribbean Environment Programme | United Nations Environment Programme · Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife - SPAW | Marine Biodiversity

The coral reefs of Cuba are considered among the best conserved in the Caribbean basin. Of the Cuban coral reefs, 35% (more than one hundred thousand hectares) are included in the Cuban system of protected areas. In this chapter, we present an analysis of representativeness of the coral reefs in the marine-protected areas (MPAs) of Cuba, highlighti...

Coral reefs are one of the most representative ecosystems of the Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve (RBCZ) and support important socioeconomic activities within the area. Based on scientific studies and taking into account the different management categories established for the National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) of Cuba, the main uses and i...

Herbivory is an essential ecological process on coral reefs because it balances competition among benthic organisms such as corals and macroalgae. The geomorphological diversity of Cuban coral reefs and their distinctive protection levels present a unique opportunity to showcase the impacts of herbivory on reef dynamics. In this chapter we compiled...

Coral reefs worldwide suffer from a combination of anthropogenic factors such as overfishing, habitat degradation, and pollution and environmental factors such as increase of sea temperature and wave impact. However, there is a gap in quantitative assessments on Cuban coral reef system benthos and fish trends and status related to environmental and...

The most significant results obtained during 15 years of research (2004–2019), monitoring, and management in the coral reefs of the Guanahacabibes National Park are presented. The most studied zoological groups have been the hard coral and fish communities. Invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) have been investigated more specifically, due to the ne...

Studies of the economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services (EGSs) have become a fundamental tool for coral reef management and protection strategies. The present work compiles the main results and experiences acquired during two studies of the economic valuation of EGSs provided by coral reefs within the framework of the project “Archipelago...

Mexico has committed to protecting 30% of its marine territory by 2030 to comply with Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of meeting this commitment by determining the marine extent o...

Background The long-time study of coral reefs with low human impacts can provide information on the effects of regional pressures like climate change, and is an opportunity to document how these pressures are reflected in coral communities. An example of minimal local anthropogenic impacts are the Guanahacabibes coral reefs, located in the westernm...

Massive influxes of holopelagic Sargassum spp. (Sargassum natans and S. fluitans) have been causing major economic, environmental and ecological problems along the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Predicting the arrival of the sargassum as an aid to addressing these problems is a priority for the government, coastal communities and the society; both miti...

Abiotic factors and human impact have a considerable influence on reef corals driving their dynamics and distribution. Most studies on coral reefs address only biological variables that cannot alone explain the predominant stressors and processes. For this work, we studied 46 shallow reefs and 48 deep reefs between 2010 and 2013 in the Cuban archip...

Resumen El tiburón azul es uno de los más abundantes a nivel mundial y de los más capturados. Su carne tiene un alto valor nutritivo; sin embargo, al ser una especie de gran tamaño, de alto nivel trófico, longeva y altamente migratoria, es muy propensa a acumular elementos tóxicos en sus tejidos. Varios investigadores han encontrado en el músculo d...

Introducción: Se presentan los resultados más significativos obtenidos en el transcurso de 10 años de investigación, monitoreo y manejo en los arrecifes coralinos del Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes (PNG). Los grupos zoológicos más estudiados han sido las comunidades de corales y peces. De igual manera, el pez león ha sido investigado a profundidad...

Among the advantages of the index of average taxonomic distinction is that of generating a statistical reference framework to contrast the values observed from simple lists of species. This property is important for environmental monitoring studies, since it does not require control sites or few disturbed sites to know the environmental quality of...

International agreements have been used to focus global attention on areas of both marine and terrestrial conservation concern. Currently, The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region, known as the Cartagena Convention (Cartagena), is the only multilateral environmental agreement in force...

Noticeable within the Mexican Caribbean is the Arrecife de Puerto Morelos National Park (APMNP), a marine protected area established as an essential component for managing and protecting coral reefs. In June 2019, we conducted a survey in eight shallow reef sites of the APMNP with the purpose of applying a coral reef assessment method, based on bio...

The map represents the spatial distribution of benthic habitats in shallow waters of the Mexican Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, in an area of 1001 km2, with an average maximum depth of 18 m. The resulting map defined 50 classes generated from the union of benthic cover and submarine relief maps, estimated from the pr...

Tarjeta de Reporte del estado de los Pastizales Marinos. Parque Nacional Arrecife de Puerto Morelos, México, 2019. Sistema de alerta de la condición ecológica de los ecosistemas marino costeros (EcoSAT), del Sistema de Información y Análisis Marino y Costero (SIMAR), Conabio, México

This dataset represents in-situ bathymetry data collected in shallow waters of the Mexican Caribbean, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak. The data were collected during seven field campaigns (2010-2016). Bathymetric surveys were carried out using the Garmin GPSmap 541s echo sounder. The information is presented in tables in ASCII format and were used as r...

This dataset (in Excel format) represents in-situ information on the percentage of benthic cover collected at 714 stations. Seven field campaigns were conducted (2010-2016), in shallow waters (up to 25 m depth) along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, as part of the Mesoamerican Reef System. The biotopes of r...

This collection integrates data from the project "Spatial distribution of benthic habitats in shallow water marine ecosystems of the Mexican Caribbean using WorldView-2 (ArrecifeSAM) satellite images (2010-2018)". The study area covers the shallow waters of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, as part of the Mesoamerican Re...

Visual census techniques have been used worldwide for the documentation of indicators on coral reefs condition, and its outcomes have helped to validate other techniques such as the use of video recording. Among them, those that use video are recommended to increase reef coverage in less time. This work aimed at verifying whether indicators of cora...

Fortalecer el sistema de monitoreo marino para el apoyo de la toma de decisiones y la aplicación de las políticas públicas para los mares mexicanos, la pesca sustentable y la conectividad ecológica y el manejo integrado del paisaje marino.

A fundamental understanding of the impact of petrochemicals and other stressors on marine biodiversity is critical for effective management, restoration, recovery, and mitigation initiatives. As species-specific information on levels of petrochemical exposure and toxicological response are lacking for the majority of marine species, a trait-based a...

The southern archipelagos of Cuba comprise important ecosystems of mangrove, seagrass beds, and coral reefs of regional significance. Biodiversity and fisheries stocks in this area experienced a severe decline due to a combination of factors (overfishing, habitat degradation, climate change). This work presents the main impacts of the project “Sout...

In the Mexican Caribbean, 15 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established for managing and protecting marine ecosystems. These MPAs receive high anthropogenic pressure from coastal development, tourism, and fishing, all in synergy with climate change. To contribute to the MPAs' effectiveness, it is necessary to provide a long-term observatio...

Los tiburones y las rayas tienen un papel esencial como depredadores tope y media- nos, respectivamente, en los ecosistemas marinos que habitan, y ocupan los últimos eslabones de la cadena trófica (Heithaus et al., 2008); desempeñan funciones de control sobre poblaciones de numerosas especies marinas (Myers et al., 2007), con lo que contribuyen a m...

En esta obra se integran y proponen protocolos de monitoreo de la biodiversidad marina en áreas naturales protegidas del Caribe mexicano, como parte de un programa de estudio con enfoque integrador que permite extender su implementación a las áreas marinas protegidas de la región del Gran Caribe. La aplicación de las metodologías descritas permite...

Los tiburones y las rayas tienen un papel esencial como depredadores tope y media- nos, respectivamente, en los ecosistemas marinos que habitan, y ocupan los últimos eslabones de la cadena trófica (Heithaus et al., 2008); desempeñan funciones de control sobre poblaciones de numerosas especies marinas (Myers et al., 2007), con lo que contribuyen a m...

Marine protected areas have been established as essential components for managing and protecting coral reefs to mitigate natural and anthropogenic stressors. One noteworthy example within the Mexican Caribbean is the Arrecife de Puerto Morelos National Park (APMNP), where several studies on the coral communities have been carried out since 2006. In...

Acropora palmata is the most important reef-building species in the crest biotopes in the Caribbean Sea. Their populations have been decimated in the last century by disease outbreaks, hurricanes and coral bleaching events. The species has been declared as threatened based on its wide-range decline and poor recovery. We evaluated the status of A. p...

The condition of coral reefs in the Cuban Archipelago is poorly known. We aimed to analyse coral assemblages across 199 reef sites belonging to 12 localities. Crest and fore reefs were assessed using six metrics: species richness, density, coral cover, mortality, coral size and reef complexity. The condition of reefs varied across the archipelago f...

Este trabajo ofrece la primera lista taxonómica de macroalgas, corales y peces presentes en los arrecifes de coral del Parque Nacional Cayos de San Felipe, en la plataforma suroccidental de Cuba. El inventario reúne información de siete años de muestreos in situ (entre 2006 y el 2015) y de publicaciones y reportes de pesca. Las observaciones se rea...

Cuba has recognized that conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity is a priority. One of the main strategies it has developed is the creation of the National System of Protected Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, or SNAP), which includes an important marine component. Here, we present the current status of the Cuban marine p...

Marine protected areas (MPAs) conserve diversity and abundance of fish communities. According to the biotic resistance hypothesis, communities with higher diversity and abundance should resist invasions better. To test this idea, the presence of lionfish in two Caribbean MPAs was studied: Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes (PNG) in Cuba and Parque Naci...

Lionfish (Pterois volitans) invaded the Caribbean region with the potential to alter the composition and structure of native coral reef fish communities. The objective of this study was to analyze the diversity indices of these fish communities potentially affected by lionfish predation and to compare with pre-invasion data. The study was undertake...

RESUMEN Datos de investigaciones científicas sobre arrecifes coralinos realizadas entre 2001 y 2016 en los cuatro archipiélagos de Cuba fueron analizados para evaluar la influencia de tensores globales y los locales. Los grupos biológicos utilizados fueron peces, corales pétreos, macroalgas, algas costrosas y Diadema antillarum; los tensores global...

The Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans is an invasive species that was first recorded in the Guanahacabibes National Park (GNP), a marine protected area in western Cuba, in 2009. In order to determine the invasion progression of this species, we studied lionfish abundance, size, and diet at 6 sites in the GNP between 2010 and 2014. The species’...

Abstract: Wave exposure can influence community structure and distribution of shallow coral reefs, by affect-ing organisms both directly and indirectly. To assess the current stony coral community condition under different degrees of wave exposure at a marine protected area of the Gulf of Cazones (SW Cuba), two expeditions were carried out in May 2...

Knowledge of the current condition of reef communities is essential for the implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs). In 2014, we assessed the conditions of reefs of two MPAs in the Caribbean: Guanahacabibes National Park (Guanahacabibes), Cuba and Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres - Punta Cancun - Punta Nizuc National Park (Cancun), Mexico....

RESUMEN Los antecedentes más significativos de esta obra son la primera evaluación que se realizó a nivel de expertos sobre el impacto del cambio climático en Cuba (Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, 1992) y el Proyecto “Impacto del cambio climático y medidas de adaptación en Cuba” (Gutiérrez, 1998), realizada en el marco del “Programa Científico Técni...

RESUMEN La Península de Guanahacabibes fue propuesta como Área Protegida de Recursos Manejados (APRM) en el Sis-tema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas de Cuba. Para validar esta propuesta se realizó un estudio de caracterización al área, en el marco del proyecto " Aplicación de un enfoque regional al manejo de las áreas protegidas marinas y costeras en...

In 2007, a health assessment of coral reefs in the Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba, was conducted based on the condition of coral communities. Coral condition indicators (maximum diameter, species richness, diseases and mortality) were evaluated, at different depths in 13 sites with varying exposure levels to the main ocean-atmospheric phenomen...

La Península de Guanahacabibes fue propuesta como Área Protegida de Recursos Manejados (APRM) en el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas de Cuba. Para validar esta propuesta se realizó un estudio de caracterización al área, en el marco del proyecto “Aplicación de un enfoque regional al manejo de las áreas protegidas marinas y costeras en los archip...

La Península de Guanahacabibes fue propuesta como Área Protegida de Recursos Manejados (APRM) en el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas de Cuba. Para validar esta propuesta se realizó un estudio de caracterización al área, en el marco del proyecto “Aplicación de un enfoque regional al manejo de las áreas protegidas marinas y costeras en los archip...

En el 2007 se evaluó el estado de salud de los arrecifes coralinos del Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, Cuba, sobre la base de la condición de las comunidades de corales. Se analizaron indicadores de condición de los corales escleractinios (diámetro máximo, riqueza de especies, enfermedades y mortalidad) a distintas profundidades, en 13 estaciones c...

Se comparó el grado de resiliencia de seis crestas arrecifales del este del golfo de Batabanó, Cuba. Tres fueron del norte del golfo de Cazones (Tramo Norte) y las restantes, del oeste de Cayo Largo (Tramo Sur). Las del primer tramo fueron las de faro Cazones, Norte de la cresta de cayo Diego Pérez y de faro Diego Pérez. Las otras tres fueron la...

Se evaluó la composición y estructura de las comunidades de peces en el Banco de San Antonio, área propuesta por el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas como Elemento Natural Destacado. Se realizaron censos visuales en 5 estaciones utilizando las metodologías de AGRRA (4 estaciones) y Brock (1 estación), ubicadas en la zona noroeste del Banco. Se e...

The degree of resilience of six reef crest sites was compared at the east of the Gulf of Batabano, Cuba. Three of them were located north of the Gulf of Cazones (Northern Stretch), while the remaining ones were west of Cayo Largo (Southern Stretch). Those of the Northern Stretch were “Faro Cazones”, north of the crest of cayo Diego Pérez and “Faro...

ISSN 2072-800x 49 The degree of resilience of six reef crest sites was compared at the east of the Gulf of Batabano, Cuba. Three of them were located north of the Gulf of Cazones (Northern Stretch), while the remaining ones were west of Cayo Largo (Southern Stretch). Those of the Northern Stretch were “Faro Cazones”, north of the crest of cayo Dieg...

Para la ejecución del plan de manejo del Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes es necesario establecer una línea base sobre la diversidad y estructura de las asociaciones de peces, así como sus posibles cambios como consecuencia de las variaciones espaciales y temporales. Se realizaron censos visuales de todas las especies en períodos lluvioso y poco lluv...

RESUMEN Para la ejecución del plan de manejo del Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes es necesario establecer una línea base sobre la diversidad y estructura de las asociaciones de peces, así como sus posibles cambios como con-secuencia de las variaciones espaciales y temporales. Se realizaron censos visuales de todas las especies en períodos lluvioso y...

Cuba is one of the richest places in malacological fauna in the world, especially in land snails, hosting a high degree of endemism. A study on the distribution of freshwater molluscs that occur within the limits of protected areas was carried out. The objective was to determine the status of the endemic species and the potential threats of introdu...

En arrecifes coralinos del suroeste de Cuba, se evaluaron los impactos de la inusitada frecuencia e intensidad de huracanes entre el 2001 y el 2007, y de las enfermedades de corales, ambos factores asociados al cambio climático. En las crestas arrecifales, la reducción de la cobertura de coral duro vivo varió de nula a 21%, mientras que la reducció...