Inventory, monitoring and impact assessment of marine biodiversity in the Seri Indian territory, Gulf of California, Mexico Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Torre Cosio, Jorge Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 14:36:21 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280215 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 INVENTORY, MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY IN THE SERI INDIAN TERRITORY, GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO by Jorge Torre Cosio A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES STUDIES In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2002 UMI Number: 3073267 (g) UMI UMI Microform 3073267 Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA a; GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Commictee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by JORGE TORRE COS 10 entitled INVENTORY, MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY IN THE SERI INDIAN TERRITORY, GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy C2^ WILLIAM L. HALVOeSON Dateite W. SH ite ' f EDWARD P. GLENN Date RICHARD C. BRUSCA Date DONALD A. THOMSON Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend chat it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. lAMo'ytr, L Dissertationssertation DirectfofDireccor Date WILLIAM L. HALVORSON J STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologi'a (CONACyT) and the Wallace Research Foundation provided fellowships to the author. The Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) (grant FB463/L179/97), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico and Gulf of California Program (grants PM93 and QP68). and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (grant 2000-0351) funded this study. Administrative support for part of the funds was through Conservation International - Mexico (CIMEX) program Gulf of California Bioregion and Conservacion del Territorio Insular A.C. (ISLA). Comunidad y Biodiversidad A. C. (COBI) provided time and salary to write the dissertation. 1 am thankful to my committee for their support and helpful comments during my studies: Dr. William Halvorson (committee chair). Dr. Richard C. Brusca, Dr. Ed Glenn. Dr. William Shaw and Dr. Donald T. Thomson. Logistic and field support was provided by Xavier Basurto, Luis Bourillon, Richard Cudney, Jaqueline Garcia, Carolyn Harris, Jacob Massaud, Ann Peterson, Tad Pfister, Pedro Ramirez, Amy Hudson Weaver, and Javier Zacarias. This research was not possible with out the help and knowledge of the Seri community, Jose Luis Blanco, Manuel Flores, Genaro Herrera, Gabriel Hoeffer, Jose Luis Lopez, Rigo Lopez. Francisco Molina, Rene Montano, CleotUde Morales, David Morales, Juan Jose Moreno, Hector Perales, Antonio Robles, Roberto Thompson, and Jesus Valenzuela. 1 am especiaUy thankful to Alfredo Lopez, who shared his incredible knowledge of the nature. Hector Espinosa, Richard S. Felger, Lloyd T. Findley, Jose Manuel Grijalva, Phill Hastings, Gordon Hendler, Steve Marlett, Alf Meling-Lopez, Raul Molina, Mary Beck Moser, Cathy Moser, Francisco Solis-Marin, and Martha Reguero gave valuable information about the Seri territory. Discussion of ideas with Luis Bourillon. Xavier Basurto, Richard Cudney, Jaqueline Garcia, Alf Meling, Pedro Ramirez, and Andrea Saenz improved the content of the document. Sandy Lanham (Environmental Flying Services) provided her excellent pilot expertise in the aerial surveys. Rocio Covarrubias edited the English of the first drafts. Special thanks to the Bourillon-Tordesillas family (Luis, Marisol and Isabella) for their fiiendship and time. My parents (Antonio Torre and Gloria Cosio) and brother (Jose Antonio Torre) always supported me during my studies. This work was not possible without the love and extreme patience of my beautiful and intelligent wife Jaqueline Garcia Hernandez. 5 A Jaqueline Garcia Hernandez ^'The Seri are gregarious, outgoing and aggressive, and have a sharp sense of humor... '^This vast expanse extends from Tiburon Island across the Canal de Infiemillo (Channel of little Hell) that separates from the mainland, and on northward up the coastline. Astronomical terms would be necessary to describe the abundance and numbers of living creatures that inhabit these waters"^ 'R. S. Felger and M. B. Moser. 1985. People of the Desert and Sea. Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ. " Ray Cannon. January 27, 1956. Isia Tiburon billfish to the horizon. In G. S. Kira. 1999. The Unforgettable Sea ofCortez. Baja California's Golden Age 1947-1977. The Life and Writings of Ray Cannon. Cortez Publications. Torrance, CA. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 7 LIST OF TABLES 8 ABSTRACT 9 INTRODUCTION 11 Inventory 13 Monitoring 15 Assessment o f impacts 16 Explanation of the dissertation 17 PRESENT STUDY 20 APPENDIX A: Marine inventory and selection of monitoring species in the Seri Indian Territory, Gulf of California, Mexico 25 APPENDIX B: Ethnoichthyology of the Seri Indians in the Gulf of California, Mexico 57 APPENDIX C: Extent, stability, and distributional patterns of the annual eelgrass Zostera marina atam in the Canal de Infiernillo, Gulf of California, Mexico 91 APPENDIX D: Impacts of the swimming crab {Callinectes hellicosus) fishery in Canal de Infiernillo, Gulf of California, Mexico 116 APPENDIX E: Inventory of the Seri territory 151 REFERENCES 176 7 LIST OF FIGURES Appendix A FIGURE 1. Study area, Seri territory 52 FIGURE 2. Distribution of the records from collections, literature, and field observations of four taxa inside the Seri territory 53 FIGURE 3. Diagram of the eelgrass community relations 54 FIGURE 4. Numbers of black brants in Canal de Infiemillo from 1965 to 2001 (USFWS, 1965-2001) 55 FIGURE 5. Number of ducks in Canal de Infiemillo from 1978 to 2000 (USFWS, 1965-2001) 56 Appendix B FIGURE 1. Map of the Seri region. Gulf of California, Mexico 90 Appendix C FIGURE 1. Eelgrass life cycle in Cai^ de Infiemiib 113 FIGURE 2. Two examples of areas in Canal de Infiemillo where eelgrass regrew in the same areas and with similar general shape and extent every year 114 FIGURE 3. Composite map of the eelgrass beds from 1999 to 2001 in March and April in Canal de Infiemillo 115 Appendix D FIGURE 1. Composite map of eelgrass beds from 1999-2001 and swimming crab fishing zones 1998-2001 147 FIGURE 2. Percentages of the total swimming crab bycatch of immature females (IF), mature females (MF), and males (M) under the legal catch size (50 mm) in Canal de Infiemillo during three fishing seasons 148 FIGURE 3. Location of concentration areas of ghost traps combining the censuses at the end of the fishing seasons 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 in Canal de Infiemillo, Bahia Sargento was not surveyed 149 FIGURE 4. Percentages of external cover by algae and sessile invertebrates in ghost traps combined the seasons 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 150 8 LIST OF TABLES Appendix A TABLE 1. Marine and coastal animal taxa iiKluded in the survey of natural history collections of the Seri territory 45 TABLE 2. Collections in USA and Mexico reviewed 46 TABLE 3. Number of records, families, and species and percentage of species with respect to the reported number of species for the Gulf of California (GC) and Northern Gulf of California (NGC) by Brusca et al. (in press) 48 TABLE 4.