Figure 1.
A) Sites surveyed by Sala et al. in 1999 [35], and resurveyed here in 2009. Dots inside the circle represent sites surveyed in Cabo Pulmo National Park in 1999. Dots inside squares represent sites in core zones (no-take areas) of other marine protected areas; the rest represent open access sites. B) Map of 11 sites surveyed at Cabo Pulmo National Park in 2009.
Table 1.
List of MPAs established by the Mexican Federal Government in the Gulf of California.
Figure 2.
Average biomass of fish trophic groups surveyed in 1999 and 2009 in each site category in the Gulf of California.
Table 2.
Changes in fish biomass between 1999 and 2009 in (a) Cabo Pulmo National Park, (b) other no-take or core zones, and (c) open-access areas.
Figure 3.
Comparison of the magnitude and rate of change of fish biomass at Cabo Pulmo National Park relative to other marine reserves around the world.
Data from other reserves were restricted to the few studies on temporal changes of total fish biomass (including all species) inside the same reserve. In all panels numbers in parentheses above bars represent years between surveys. In panels (b) and (c), relative annual rate of change between time zero and time t is calculated as: ρ = ln(xt/x0)/t. Data sources: Mombasa [6], New Caledonia [7], Saba [43], St. Lucia [45], Sumilon and Apo [44].
Figure 4.
Examples of the fish assemblage at Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP).
(a) groupers, (b) snappers, (c) jacks, and (d) parrotfishes. Photographs were taken in the summers of 2008–2010 (Photography by: Octavio Aburto).