Effect of anthropogenic activities on mangrove coverage in the lower Coatzacoalcos river basin

Abstract

Cuevas-Díaz, M.C., Hernández-Romero, A.H., Vázquez-Luna, D., Lara-Rodríguez, D-A., Guzmán-López, O., González-Arvizu, J.E., Ontiveros-José, J.I. 2020. Effect of anthropogenic activities on mangrove coverage in the lower Coatzacoalcos river basin. Ecosistemas 29(3):1942. https://doi.org/10.7818/ECOS.1954

Mangroves are one of the types of coastal wetlands present in the lower basin of the Coatzacoalcos River, which, despite their increasing deterioration, retain ecological and economic importance. The objective of this study was to identify the main anthropogenic activity that has contributed to reducing mangrove coverage in the lower basin of the Coatzacoalcos River, using two methods: 1) comparing mangrove areas and urban development, between 1986 and 2016, with Landsat and Sentinel images (scale 1: 250 000), using Q-Gis version 214.2; and 2) through a matrix of maximums and minimums, where values ​​were assigned to rate the degree of affectation of anthropic actions to each component of the ecosystem. Between 1986 and 2016, mangrove loss was 86 %, and it is associated with the increase in human settlements in the lower basin of the Coatzacoalcos River. The actions that most affected the environmental components were human settlements, land clearings and landfills, livestock, and industrial sites with affected percentages of 15.9, 15.7, 15.5, and 13.5%, respectively. The most affected environmental components were soil, flora, and water, with percentages of affectation of the resource of 17, 17, and 16%, respectively. Human settlements are the leading cause of loss of mangroves in the lower basin of the Coatzacoalcos River, particularly the irregular settlements that occur in the region.