10 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 tabla.[EN]: Mangrove loss in Mexico led to the development of different recovery programs focused on building and maintaining greenhouses, reforestation, and the construction of drainage systems along coastal roads to reestablish surface water flows. However, these recovery strategies have not been as successful as expected because they were not based on an evaluation of environmental characteristics required for mangrove development in the context of new hydrological and sedimentary conditions. The studies performed over the last ten years by the mangrove group at Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), in collaboration with other institutions, resulted in a conceptual framework that we present here as a methodological approach for the ecological restoration of mangroves in the Yucatán Peninsula. The conceptual framework is based on the relationships among the geomorphology, hydrology, and structural and functional characteristics of mangroves that are associated with the environmental services offered by these ecosystems. The methodological approach is fundamentally concerned with the particular characteristics of the karstic environmental setting of the Yucatán Peninsula as well as social and economic aspects of restoration. This approach to mangrove restoration includes stages for planning, implementing, and monitoring mangrove restoration programs in karstic environments.[ES]: La pérdida de manglares en México ha llevado al desarrollo de diferentes programas para abordar su recuperación. En la Península de Yucatán estos programas se han centrado principalmente en la construcción y mantenimiento de invernaderos, la reforestación y la construcción de sistemas de alcantarillas en las carreteras costeras para restablecer los flujos de las aguas superficiales. Sin embargo, estas estrategias de recuperación no tuvieron el éxito que se esperaba, principalmente porque no se basaron en la caracterización ambiental como un criterio para identificar las condiciones hidrológicas y de sedimentos necesarias para el desarrollo de manglares. Los estudios realizados durante los últimos diez años por el grupo manglares en el Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), en colaboración con otras instituciones, han dado lugar a un marco conceptual que se presenta aquí como un enfoque metodológico para la restauración ecológica de los manglares en la Península de Yucatán. El marco conceptual se basa en las relaciones que hay entre la geomorfología, la hidrología y características estructurales y funcionales de los manglares, y que están asociados con los servicios ambientales que ofrecen estos ecosistemas. El enfoque metodológico es fundamentalmente relacionado a las características particulares del entorno kárstico de la Península de Yucatán, así como aspectos sociales y económicos de la restauración. Este enfoque de la restauración de manglares incluye las etapas de la planificación, implementación y seguimiento de los programas de restauración de manglares en ambientes kársticos.Funds for studies\ud and mangrove restoration projects in\ud Yucatán were from CONACyT-66223,\ud JICA, CONAFOR, SEMARNAT, and\ud CONABIO-FN009 and GH009.Peer reviewe

The restoration of mangroves has gained prominence in recent decades. Hydrological rehabilitation has been undertaken to connect impaired mangroves with the sea, lagoons or estuaries. Because mangrove hydrodynamics occurs on the surface and interstitial spaces in the sediment, we propose to determine the hydrological flow paths to restore the hydrological regimes of the impaired mangroves. The hydrological flow paths were determined through a micro basin analysis based on microtopographic data to generate a digital elevation model. Applying this methodological approach, the hydrology of an impaired area on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico was restored by excavating, desilting or clearing the channels on the identified hydrological flow paths. This area was compared to one in which impaired mangroves were reconnected to the marine lagoon but disregarding the flow paths. Data collected in both areas were evaluated by flood level analysis, using two methods: (i) a simple linear regression model (SLRM) and (ii) spectral analysis (SA), also known as dominant frequency analysis. The results suggest that restoration based on the hydrological flow paths was more effective than the direct opening to the nearest main water body without accounting for the microtopography. In both areas, soil salinity and sulfides decreased after hydrological reconnection. However, a greater efficiency in the investment of time and human resources was achieved when preferential flow paths were identified and taken into account. The methodological procedures described in this study are of universal application to other mangrove restoration programs.

The major hydrological characteristics of the coastal lagoons of Yucatán and their relationship with the space-time pattern of the primary producer communities are described. The weather patterns in the region play an important role in the seasonal changes of nutrient inputs, which are related to the groundwater discharges. The fluctuations of the mean sea level in response to freshwater discharges and frontal systems influenced the differences observed in the residence time of water, which could play an important role in the accumulation of toxic substances from sewage discharges and biological metabolism. The spatial distribution of primary producers was heterogeneous with high biomass production in the middle zone of the lagoons. The dominant group in each system changed seasonally in response to the coupling between external forces and their life cycles; however, the submerged macrophytes might be the principal group in these shallow aquatic ecosystems. The mangrove vegetation experienced strong differences in their structural development which could be used as a signal of the impacts observed in the area. Though there is no river in the region, the mangrove vegetation was well represented in the North Coast and irregular freshwater inputs favored the dispersion of this community. However, because the seasonality of these freshwater inputs did not show a better structure, their contribution to total primary production should be limited in some areas to a specific period of the year. The heterogeneity observed in the hydrology and primary producer communities suggested a high diversity and the existence of different food webs that offer various potential uses. However, for adequate management polices, these uses must be planned considering the space-time pattern of the hydrology and primary producers.