The mangroves of Celestún and Sisal, ports of Yucatán, resisted the powerful hurricane Milton, but they present three damages that impact the species that inhabit these wetlands, reports Dr. Jorge Herrera Silveira, head of the Primary Production Laboratory of the Research and of Advanced Studies (Cinvestav)-Mérida.
The powerful winds of Milton felled trees, the torrential rains increased the level of flooding and the storm surges entered the land and modified the salinity of the mangroves of Sisal and Celestún, says the specialist when reporting on the damage observed in these ecosystems caused Milton.
Mangroves protect human settlements near the coast from hurricanes, dissipate wave energy, and slow the entry of storm surges, which can reduce flood damage and minimize erosion, highlight Dr. Herrera and others. Researchers in the book “Damage to Mangroves Caused by Hurricanes, Repair Techniques and Costs after a Storm” (2022).
Although it did not land in Yucatán, Milton skirted the Yucatecan coast from West to East from Monday, October 7 to Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, Milton is the fifth most intense hurricane, due to its destructive power, in the Atlantic in 89 years and the second most powerful, due to the strength of its winds, since 2005. With five records, it entered the history of the hurricanes of this basin.
To evaluate Milton’s impacts on the Sisal and Celestún mangroves, the Primary Production Laboratory and the National School of Higher Studies of the UNAM in Mérida carried out a rapid verification using drone flights, “in situ” quantification of damage to the vegetation, and hydrological measurements.
This evaluation is part of the monitoring that both institutions carry out in the El Palmar Reserve (Sisal) and the Ría de Celestún Biosphere Reserve.
The information collected continues to be processed, and monitoring will continue to evaluate the resilience (adaptation) – in the event of a hurricane – of the landscape, mangrove cover, and hydrology, as well as biodiversity (species) if possible, says Dr. Herrera.
The entry of the sea into the mangroves affects salinity, which in turn modifies the flora and fauna because organisms have different tolerances and responses to salinity. The mangroves of the Yucatan Peninsula, say the authors of the 2022 study, are resilient to cyclones as long as they are healthy before the event; In that case, they recover naturally in an average of 7-13 years, but if the mangrove is degraded it would take more than 20 years to restore and, in the worst case, it may never regenerate unless man acts to rescue it.
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