Record of changes in the regionalization of Terminos Lagoon, Campeche

Abstract

The Terminos Lagoon is an estuarine-lagoon ecosystem, recognized as one of the largest coastal lagoons in the Gulf of Mexico, has great ecological, social and economic relevance, being a place from which various activities of commercial importance are carried out, in addition to being an area that presents high diversity. However, in the last 20 years it has been influenced by anthropic and natural impacts, which modifies the physicochemical characteristics of the water (temperature, salinity and pH) and changes in diversity species, being decisive in changes in regionalization. Therefore, in the present study, the spatio-temporal relationship of the physicochemical characteristics was analyzed, using geostatistics to characterize and predict possible new hydrological zones for Terminos lagoon. Samples were carried out monthly at 17 points, by zones and seasons (dry, rainy and wind/winter), in which significant differences were sought. To detect possible changes in regionalization, the GS+ software was used, where the values ​​of R2 were considered, defining the interpolation of Minimum Curvature (R2 <0.5). For the spatial distribution, the TNTmips program was used and to restructure the current zoning, a Cluster Analysis was applied. The results indicate for rainy season higher temperature values ​​(30.59 °C), higher salinity in dry (31.78 UPS), and higher pH in the wind/winter season (7.88). In the spatial distribution, the warmest areas were shown in the Candelaria River, the most saline areas by Isla de Carmen and the highest pH ranges near Pom-Atasta. According to the previous regionalization, 4 new zones are represented, which are influenced by fresh water discharges and the intrusion of salt water that is carried within the site. Keywords: Gulf of Mexico, ecosystem, refuge area, alterations, geostatistics.