Biodiversity
The objective of the BD goal is to assess the condition of local habitats and organismal communities that maintain productive marine ecosystems and ecosystem services.
This definition is not finalized. It is based on conversations had in Goalkeeper Meetings #1 and #2. See the Meeting #2 tab below for more details.
Biodiversity reflects the variety of life in the ocean and the importance people place on its existence. This goal tracks how well species and habitats are being conserved, recognizing that the loss of biodiversity raises serious ecological, cultural, and moral concerns.
CORE DEFINITION
This is the core definition of the global OHI framework. This will be adapted and tailored to the Gulf of California by the Goalkeeper Group.
Focus: The biodiversity goal measures the conservation status of marine life, assessed through species risk of extinction and the condition of key marine habitats. It focuses on whether ecosystems can sustain the variety of species that exist today and into the future.
Not: This goal does not measure all aspects of nature or ecosystem health (e.g., genetic diversity, ecosystem function, or terrestrial biodiversity). It also does not capture every marine species—only those assessed through global datasets—or every local habitat, given significant data gaps.
The global framework measures biodiversity through two equally weighted sub-goals:
Species: Based on the global conservation status of marine species, drawing on assessments from the IUCN Red List and BirdLife International. The target is for all species to be at “Least Concern” risk of extinction.
Habitats: Focused on the health of critical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, kelp forests, salt marshes, tidal flats, sea ice edges, and soft-bottom habitats. These ecosystems are used as proxies for the many species that depend on them.
Data limitations remain a challenge, but we use the best available global information to assess both current conditions and recent trends. By combining species and habitat results, the biodiversity goal aims to provide a snapshot of how well marine life is being sustained, and highlights where conservation efforts are most needed.
And hopefully, there are even better ways to measure the regional biodiversity of the Gulf of California!
Goalkeeper Meetings
Meeting Access
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3255055973
Team Members
Names of team members listed in alphabetical order
- Yuliana Bedolla
- Miguel Betancourt
- Rick Brusca
- Geovanni (Geo) Coredero Herrera
- Violeta González Maynez
- Lorayne Meltzer
- Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna
- Adrian Munguia
- Hector Reyes
- Jorge Torre
- Ben Wilder
Meeting Schedule (Thursday 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PDT)
| Meeting | Date | Specific Date | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July | July 31, 2025 | Group introductions, OHI platform overview, goal calculations |
| 2 | August | August 28, 2025 | Model and reference point discussion |
| 3 | September | September 25, 2025 | Model, reference point, and data sources |
| 4 | October | October 30, 2025 | Preliminary results and pressure/resilience |
| 5 | November | November 20, 2025 | Final analysis plan review |
| 6 | December | December 11, 2025 (tentative) | Tentative |
Google Calendar
Add the shared calendar to your Google Calendar account using the provided link. It will appear under “Other calendars” and provide access to all scheduled meetings with updated Zoom links.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to working on this initiative with you!
Meeting #1 began with a discussion about AI meeting tools, language translation services in Zoom, and group member introductions. This was followed by a presentation and overview of the Ocean Health Index (OHI) and its application to the Gulf of California. Participants explored OHI methodology for assessing biodiversity goals, including the importance of establishing appropriate reference points and quantifying current status of biodiversity in the region. The group discussed challenges for data collection and analysis, with a focus on habitat degradation trends, and the difficulty of defining a ‘healthy state’ or baseline.
Resources shared during Meeting #1
- Presentation Slides
- learn more about Ocean Health Index, the goals of this project in the Gulf of California, and objectives for the Goalkeeper Group.
- Meeting #1 Summary & General Notes
- catch up on meetings you missed and review meeting summaries; keep track of resources and data bases shared during our meetings, and write down your quick thoughts offline.
Resources shared during our meetings can be accessed in the group’s shared google drive here.
In Meeting #2, we will discuss how we might measure ‘Biodiversity’ in the Gulf, and possible BD reference points, so please come prepared for this discussion. A reference point is defined as the ideal state of biodiversity in the GoC.
The main focus of Meeting #2 was to solidify the goal definition before selecting model indicators. In this context, our ‘model’ will be a series of indicators intended to capture the definition of the goal; it will probably not be very mathematically complicated. Erica outlined the goal workflow – a six-step process from step 1 (defining the goal) to step 6 (verifying model outputs). The team discussed various aspects of BD, including environmental reference points and addressing habitat degradation while reviewing available resources. They explored challenges in defining biodiversity indicators and establishing baseline data, with discussions around using proxies and expert opinion when historical data is limited. The team engaged in a collaborative group activity to narrow in on a definition of the biodiversity goal, with plans to solidify the goal definition next meeting. The meeting concluded with a presentation by Hem and Ricardo, who discussed their forthcoming tool for querying international databases.
Resources shared during BD Meeting #2
- Meeting #2 Presentation Slides
- slides to guide our discussion. We discussed workflow, terminology, and the definition of ‘Biodiversity’ in the OHI context.
- Meeting #2 Summary & General Notes
- catch up on meetings you missed and review meeting summaries; keep track of resources and data bases shared during our meetings, and write down your thoughts offline.
- Whiteboard Group Activity
- review the whiteboard / group activity shared during the meeting, wherein participants were asked to write their definition of the goal.
- Notes on Biodiversity shared by Rick & Lorayne
- please review Rick and Lorayne’s notes!
- Link to the CEDO Shiny App shared by Hem and Ricardo** Link is forthcoming.
- explore this data visualization and download tool!
Homework for BD Meeting #3: Come prepared to finalize the goal definition and discuss possible indicators.
As much as possible, try not to let data availability constrain your definition – instead, let’s try to make the definition philosophical or aspirational; we can redefine it once we’ve identified data constraints. Please also keep in mind that our working definition should capture the intent of the goal, whereas indicators represent the specific types of data we will use to quantify the goal’s status. This is a subtle but important distinction. For example, the phrase “to measure ecosystem condition” is more philosophical and captures intent, whereas “the presence / absence of habitat-forming species” is more likely an indicator.
In Meeting #3, we will finalize the definition / objective of the ‘Biodiversity’ goal and move on to a discussion of model indicators. Come prepared to finalize the BD goal definition / objective.
Stay tuned for Meeting #3 resources.
Expert Working Group (EWG) Meetings
These are some of the points discussed by the Expert Working Group.
Data and Monitoring
- The GoC is megadiverse with data available from a database merging Rick’s invert Desert Database, CONABIO, GBIF, OBIS, totaling 12,000 species, augmented by eDNA to more than ~25,000 species including polychaetes.
- The database is georeferenced and includes spatial and depth information.
- Sampling is every 2-3 years, not continuous; historical data exist.
- Presence and abundance data cover the last 10 years.
- Optical character recognition is used to digitize paper data.
- Occurrence data have dates but are confounded by sampling effort.
- Bycatch data from Sinaloa documented 30 years ago; shrimping decline may affect diversity.
- eDNA databases are being used to collapse diversity into trophic levels for comparison through time and space.
- Naturalist and community-based databases can supplement scientific data.
Species and habitat condition
- Proxy of status based on management; trend data are hard because repeats are needed and there are many gaps.
- Experts know from experience how species are doing and where; expert assessment would be beneficial.
- Presence/absence over time can indicate if the system is healthy or degraded.
- Need to add a richness measure beyond just status in risk assessment.
- May want to restrict to certain phyla rather than all of them.
- Indicator groups of families and species could identify which places in the gulf are faring better, possibly not at species level.
- Islands such as Islas Marias and Maria Madre are biodiversity hotspots and could serve as reference points.
- Terrestrial invasive species on islands are a concern; some indicators could link marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
- Trends for mangroves and salt marshes are available.
- Habitat and species cacti, including cardone and island plant species, are important.
- Seabird islands would be valuable to include.
Ecological and environmental trends
- Changes in species richness in Puerto Peñasco: used to have every animal phylum, now only two or three.
- Some species impacted by fisheries and disease.
- Shifting species distributions and limited trend data from 15 years ago require revisiting.
- Trends in fin whales, sperm whales, orcas, and pinnipeds reflect ecosystem changes.
- Ospreys are increasing; fin whales and some dolphins are fewer and skinnier, but not necessarily identified as anthropogenic impact.
- Birds can signal environmental degradation; in South Sinaloa, Gulf of Santa Clara is important for birds but already greatly impacted/degraded.
- Loss of water depth and warming leads to changes in coastal lagoon ecosystems, e.g., mudflat with no shrimp or fish but birds feeding on invertebrates.
- The Colorado River basin has lost native biodiversity.
Conservation and management
- Refugio Pescero Popular in Sinaloa is a protected area free of fishing, supported by fishermen.
- COBI supports bottom-up protected areas based on fishing groups with a consultant portal.
- Management is bureaucratically difficult.
- Artificial reefs are considered a good idea.
- Management interventions should be included in assessments.