The coastal area of Bahía Magdalena is considered a priority from different points of view: land (CONABIO, 2000), marine and coastal (CONABIO, 1998), hydrological basin (CONABIO, 2002), and bird conservation area (CONABIO, 1998).

Undoubtedly Bahía Magdalena is a priority in Northwest Mexico to determine the vulnerability in its ecosystems, understanding as the incapability of this coastal area to absorb, through auto-adjustment, the effects of climate and anthropogenic changes in its environment.

Our goals are to establish the regional and local patterns of environmental change, related both with the processes of climate change and with the transformations and transitions of demography, urbanization, and migration.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

Evaluate through the use of geographic information systems the environmental and social vulnerability of the coastal area of Bahía Magdalena, considering climate change at different spatial and temporal scales, and also geographically model, through the use of geographic information systems, the social and environmental scenarios for this region at medium and long term.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• Establish a data base on species, habitats, and ecosystems in the coastal area of Bahía Magdalena which is considered a priority.

• Establish the vulnerability of the coastal area of Bahía Magdalena, considering climate change at different spatial and temporal scales.

• Estimate the potential impact on biological and ecosystem diversity (structure, composition, function, and distribution) of the coastal area of Bahía Magdalena that causes temperature changes in extraordinary hydrometeorological events.

  Assess  the loss of plant cover by vegetation type in the coastal area of Bahía Magdalena from 1980 to 2005 through the use of geographic information systems.