|Biosphere Reserve Information|
The biosphere reserve is located in the physiographic province of the Sierra Madre del Sur, characterized by bays, cliffs and rocky escarpments.
The site presents rocky associations of various ages that make up the texture of the land in Huatulco. The relief of the biosphere reserve is mountainous in its southern portion, with valleys perpendicular to the coast. The terrestrial part is composed of rounded hills, isolated hills, dunes, escarpments, cliffs, mangroves, wetlands, savannah, lowland deciduous and riparian vegetation. In the marine part we can find bays, beaches, islands, kelp and coral communities.
Within the core area there is no human population, except in an area called El Faisán. However, in the recent years the population growth rate of the area has accelerated particularly. During the period 1980-1990, the population rose from 6760 to 12645 inhabitants, representing an average annual rate of population growth of 6.6%. For the period 1990-2000, the rate of population growth was even higher, with a rate of 8.67%.
The biosphere reserve occupies a territory recognized as national land, under the responsibility of the National Fund for Tourism.
|Major ecosystem type||Low deciduous vegetation|
|Major habitats & land cover types||Low deciduous vegetation, coastal dunes, riparian vegetation, secondary vegetation, mangroves, and coral communities|
15º39’12’’ y 15º47’10’’ latitud N
96º06’30’’ y 96º15’00’’ longitud W
|Transition area(s) when given||11,890.98|
|Altitude (metres above sea level)|
|Administrative authorities||Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas|
Inspection tours are conducted in coordination with PROFEPA, the Mexican Army and local authorities. Floristic inventories are conducted by the Society for the Study of the Biotic Resources of Oaxaca, and inventories of fauna by the University of the sea. Further monitoring of key species in the site: monitoring of the sea turtle, floristic compendium of resources, monitoring quality and health of communities of coral reefs, monitoring of purple snails, compendium of species of snakes, inventory of reef fish, studies of marine invertebrate organisms (sea urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers).
|Abiotic||Abiotic factors, air quality, air temperature, climate, contaminants, drought, erosion, geology, geomorphology, geophysics, global change, habitat, hydrology, indicators, meteorology, monitoring/methodologies, nutrients, siltation/sedimentation, soil, topography, toxicology/toxic substances, uv radiation/solar radiation.|
|Biodiversity||Algae, amphibians, arid/semi-arid, benthos, biodiversity, biogeography, biology, birds, community studies/communities, conservation, coral reefs, degraded areas, dune systems, ecology, ecosystem assessment, ecosystem functioning/ecosystem structure, ecotone, endemic species, fauna, fires/fire ecology, fishes, flora, forest systems, freshwater/inland water, home gardens, indicators, invertebrates/insects/spiders, island systems/islands, mammals, microorganisms, migrating populations/migration, mountain and highland systems, natural medicinal products, natural resources, perturbations/resilience/vulnerability, pests/diseases, phytosociology/succession, plankton, plants, pollination, productivity, rare/endangered/threatened species, reptiles, restoration/rehabilitation/redevelopment, species inventorying/inventory, taxonomy, vegetation studies/plant cover, wildlife.|
|Socio-economic||Agriculture/Production systems, agroforestry, anthropological studies/anthropology, aquaculture/mariculture, archaeology/paleontology, cultural aspects, economic studies, economically important species, energy production systems/alternative energy, fishery/fisheries, forestry, human health, human migration/population exodus, indicators, industry, local participation, natural hazards, pastoralism/pastoralists/grazing, people-nature relations/man/nature, poverty, recreation, resource use, role of women/gender, sacred sites, small business initiatives, social/socio-economic aspects, tourism, traditional practices/ethnology/traditional knowledge, transport.|
|Integrated monitoring||Carrying capacity/Sustainability, conflict, ecosystem approach, education and public awareness, environmental change, environmental quality, geographic information system/gis, impact and risk studies/environmental impact, indicators, infrastructure, integrated studies/interdisciplinaty, interdisciplinary studies, land tenure, land use/land cover, landscape inventorying/monitoring, mapping, planning and zoning measures/zonation, rural systems, sustainable development/sustainable use, urban systems/towns/cities.|
Denhi Salinas Ordaz
Directora del Parque Nacional Huatulco, CONANP.
Calle Dársena. Manzana 20 Lote 8 Sector A Santa Cruz, Bahías de Huatulco
|Last updated: 08/03/2011|