Can wrecks serve as exploitable surrogate habitats for degraded natural reefs?

Overfishing is a key stressor in many coral reefs, affecting their function and ecosystem services. In the Gulf of California, 50 years of artisanal and recreational fishing have removed most of the largest and most vulnerable fish species, the Espiritu Santo Archipelago (ESA) is a marine protected area (MPA) where artisanal and recreational fishing are allowed in most of the natural reefs, while the artificial reefs (wrecks) are fully protected. An important question under such circumstances is whether artificial reefs can serve as surrogate habitats for the natural reefs.

Marine bacteria associated with shallow hydrothermal systems in the Gulf of California with the capacity to produce biofilm inhibiting compounds.

Shallow hydrothermal systems are extreme environments. The sediments and fluids emitted from the vents present unusual physical and chemical conditions compared to other marine areas, which promotes unique biodiversity that has been of great interest for biotechnology for some years. In this work, a bioprospective study was carried out to evaluate the capacity of bacteria associated with shallow hydrothermal vents to produce biofilm-inhibiting compounds.

Intertidal geothermal hot springs as a source of trace elements to the coastal zone: A case study from Bahía Concepción, Gulf of California.

We investigated the influence of the intertidal geothermal hot spring (GHS) on the biogeochemistry of trace elements in Santispac Bight, Bahía Concepción (Gulf of California). The geothermal fluids were enriched in As and Hg mainly in ionic form. The suspended particulate matter of the GHS had elevated enrichment factor (EF) >1 of As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Mo, Sb, Sn, Sr, Ti, U and Zn.