McGill University
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Brian Leung
Start: 2020-04-14

Project

Drivers of Mangroves forest changes: their effects on ecosystem services and the role of the effectiveness of protected areas
I am a Ph.D. student in the Neotropical Environmental Option (NEO) program, Biology Department at McGill University. I am interested broadly in the conservation of coastal marine ecosystems. My Ph.D. research project focuses on mangrove ecosystems, which are one of the most valuable coastal habitats in the provision of multiple ecosystem services such as fisheries, coastal erosion control, retaining toxic pollutants, effective carbon sink, and cultural values. Despite these benefits, this ecosystem has been highly modified, with at least one-third of the global cover lost during the last decades. These changes are partly due to anthropogenic activities derived from terrestrial and marine realms, such as aquaculture and agriculture expansion, coastal development, urbanization, pollution, and industrialization, making this habitat one of the most vulnerable intertidal ecosystems in the tropics. During my Ph.D. I expect to gain a better understanding of the effects of stressors such as excess nutrients, land-use changes, and climate change on critical ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and storage, biodiversity, and mangrove-associated fisheries (in particular fisheries that involve large predators such as Sharks and Rays). In addition, I will explore the role of protected areas in reducing the influences of these threats and promoting the structure and function of these ecosystems. This study will be done mainly in Panama, where mangroves are distributed on the country's Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the effects of different anthropogenic impacts and climate change are evident. This Ph.D. thesis will employ different approaches such as surveys (interviews with local stakeholders), field sampling, predictive species distribution models, remote sensing, spatially explicit models, multivariate models, and decision-making scenarios. The data generated in this study will support the Panama Research and Integrated Sustainability Model (PRISM), a spatially explicit model for of sustainability of the country. The results of this study will improve our understanding of the effects of local human stressors and climate change on tropical mangroves to integrate this knowledge into new strategies for the sustainable management of mangrove ecosystems.

Keywords

Mangrove, protected areas, Nitrogen Pollution, Fisheries

Publications

1- A Review of the Status of Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras of Panama to Guide Research and Conservation
Morales‐Saldaña, Jorge Manuel, Hector M. Guzmán, Angel J. Vega, Yolani A. Robles, Luis A. Montes, Peter M. Kyne
2025 Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems

2- Shortfalls in the protection of Important Shark and Ray Areas undermine shark conservation efforts in the Central and South American Pacific
Mouton, Théophile L., Adriana Gonzalez-Pestana, Christoph A. Rohner, Ryan Charles, Emiliano García-Rodríguez, Peter M. Kyne, Amanda Batlle-Morera, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Asia O. Armstrong, Enzo Acuña, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Randall Arauz, Cristopher G. Avalos-Castillo, Ely Augustinus, Sandra Bessudo, Enrique Barraza, Carlos Bustamante, Elpis J. Chávez, Eduardo Ramon Espinoza, Mario Espinoza, Ana Hacohen-Domené, Alex R. Hearn, Grettel M. Hernández, Felipe Galván-Magaña, José A. Gonzalez-Leiva, James T. Ketchum, Felipe Ladino, Frida Lara-Lizardi, Jorge Manuel Morales-Saldaña, Naití Morales Serrano, Jeffry Madrigal-Mesén, Paola A. Mejía-Falla, Andrés F. Navia, Gabriela M. Ochoa, Marta D. Palacios, César R. Peñaherrera-Palma, Francisco Polanco-Vásquez, Yehudi Rodríguez-Arriatti, Luz E. Saldaña-Ruiz, Oscar Sosa-Nishizaki, Javier Tovar-Ávila, Ángel J. Vega, Ximena Velez-Zuazo, Melany Villate-Moreno, Ilena Zanella, Rima W. Jabado
2025 Marine Policy

3- Unveiling Macroecological Patterns of Elasmobranchs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean
Navia, Andrés F., Joanna Alfaro‐Shigueto, Jose Ágreda‐Arango, Elisa Areano, Cristopher Avalos‐Castillo, Joseph J. Bizzarro, Carlos Bustamante, Adriana Cevallos, Francisco J. Concha, Víctor H. Cruz‐Escalona, David A. Ebert, Mario Espinoza, Alberto González‐Leiva, Héctor M. Guzmán, Alex Hearn, José S. Hleap, Jeffrey C. Mangel, Paola A. Mejía‐Falla, Jorge M. Morales‐Saldaña, Heriberto Santana, Oscar Sosa‐Nishizaki, Javier Tovar‐Ávila, Ximena Vélez‐Zuazo
2024 Journal of Biogeography