Seaweed Invasion! Temporal Changes in Beach Conditions Lead to Increasing Cenote Usage and Contamination in the Riviera Maya
Seaweed Invasion! Temporal Changes in Beach Conditions Lead to Increasing Cenote Usage and Contamination in the Riviera Maya
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DOI：
10.3390/su12062474
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发表时间：
2020-03-02
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Lenczewski, Melissa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Armando Casas-Beltran, Diego;Gallaher, Courtney Maloof;Lenczewski, Melissa
自 2011 年以来，墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的旅游业受到大量马尾藻海藻冲上海滩的严重影响，最大的海藻事件发生在 2019 年。海藻阻碍了海滩旅游业，可能会将旅游业转向内陆的其他活动，例如在天然井（天坑）中游泳。我们的混合方法研究结合了对该地区游客的调查、游客和旅行社的访谈、报纸文章、法律和政策的主题分析以及天然井水样分析的数据，以了解不断变化的旅游业对天然井的环境影响。我们发现旅游业为应对海藻问题而有意鼓励天然井旅游，我们的调查和采访数据也证实游客选择参观天然井而不是海滩。 2019 年一处旅游天然井的水样显示，与前几年相比，污染有所增加。目前旅游天然井的法规和管理薄弱，可能对环境和周边社区的水主权造成重大长期损害。应加强对天然井的监管，以保护这些脆弱的喀斯特生态系统，并让当地和土著居民在管理过程中拥有正式的发言权。
Since 2011, tourism to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has been heavily impacted by large masses of sargassum seaweed washing up on the beaches, with the largest seaweed event occurring in 2019. Seaweed deters beach tourism, potentially shifting tourism inland towards other activities such as swimming in cenotes (sinkholes). Our mixed methods study combined data from surveys of visitors to the region, interviews with tourists and tour operators, thematic analysis of newspaper articles, laws and policies and analysis of water samples from a cenote to understand the environmental impact on cenotes of this shifting tourism industry. We identified intentional efforts by the tourism industry to encourage cenote tourism in response to the seaweed problem, and our survey and interview data confirmed that tourists are choosing to visit cenotes in lieu of beaches. Water samples from one tourist cenote in 2019 indicated increased pollution relative to previous years. Current regulations and management of tourist cenotes are weak, creating the potential for significant long term harm to the environment and to the water sovereignty of surrounding communities. Regulation of cenotes should be strengthened to protect these fragile karst ecosystems and to give local and indigenous residents a formal voice in the management process.