Project Title: Mapping and Management of the Coastal Wetlands of Northern Sonora: A Multi-National Approach

SCERP Project Number: NR97-2

Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Sierra, Jordan Chamberlin, Diann Peart

Task Manager's affiliation: Arizona State University

Goal: This project will map and describe by vegetation classification seven wetlands communities located along the northeastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. It includes plans to develop a GIS database to facilitate the analysis and development of a wetlands resource management plan for the region.

A series of field investigations are planned at the wetlands sites with students and faculty from ASU, ITESM Guaymas, and with a team of Tohono O'odham Nation Tribal EarthVision high school students and their teacher, to perform vegetation transects, ecological inventories, and ground truthing of aerial imagery. An Internet website will be developed for this project, describing the research and findings, and linked to other websites with similar interests.

The Sonoran Desert bioregion is characteristically arid, yet the Colorado River flows through this landscape, emptying across its delta into the Sea of Cortez. Other (often ephemeral) watercourses find their way to the Sea of Cortez, creating coastal wetlands at the end of their journey. These wetlands are of transcendent importance for many of the life systems of the region; they have been fished and harvested by native peoples for hundreds of years; they are critical elements along the flyways of migrating birds; and they have tremendous tourist potential, already attracting large numbers of visitors, especially from Arizona. This coastal zone is in fact a series of wetland ecological communities, discontinuous, narrow, and fragile. Within the state of Sonora only the southern wetlands have been mapped thus far, and the only management plan in existence is for these southern units. No comprehensive mapping, inventory or management plan has been done for any of the northern wetland areas.

These wetlands are within 100 km of the Arizona-Sonora border, and because they are adjacent to the Tohono O'odham Nation, they form part of the traditional regional context in the lives of tribal people, and many have relatives living in the area. Hunting and fishing activities are carried on along this coastal region by local inhabitants, as well as by seasonal and short-term visitors. The activities of these groups have an impact on the condition of the watersheds within which the coastal wetlands lie. The Tohono O'odham Nation will be included as a responsible partner in this research, and in the identification, discussion and dissemination of potential management alternatives.

In the past, native people in the border region have not been a part of the investigations, the discussions, or the solutions on border issues. This project will involve representatives of the Tohono O'odham Nation Environmental Quality Office in the development of an effective management plan for the entire wetlands area.

Return to SCERP's home page • Contact the SCERP webmaster • Site map