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International Journal of Marine Science 2014, Vol.4, No.37, 1-12
http://ijms.biopublisher.ca
5
Other small rivers such as Mosquito River can supply
water to the wetland during the rainy season.
The study area has a strong current component from
the rivers that flow into the mangrove estuaries that
characterize the coastal zone. The tide in the area,
according to the Dubanin's classification criteria, is
mixed, semidiurnal and irregular, with mean
amplitude of 15-50 cm (Rodriguez, 1983).
3.4.2 Hydrogeology
The rocks are rich in water with higher flow than 5 liters/
second/meter with low mineralization (less than 1 g/l).
The average depth of the water table is less than 5 m.
This is important to understand the water balance in
the wetland. Depending on the season of year,
groundwater can emerge spontaneously, even in
brackish lagoons or in the sea.
3.5 Coastal Dynamics
Changes over time of the coastal line in the area where
the Playa Florida village lies reflect a coastal
dynamics influenced by natural and anthropogenic
factors that are enhanced in the area of the community
where clear evidence of erosion is presented.
3.5.1 Geology
It is the base on which the erosion acts and the
material that composes the primary source of causes.
Tectonically is an area that is sinking, which together
with the rise in mean sea level due to global changes,
allow to the sea ever earn much more territory.
3.5.2 Relief
The slope of the beach is very gentle, 1-2 degrees,
with escarpments ranging between 8-30 cm, largely
coinciding this difference between the starting point
and ending with the oscillations of tides, which
characterizes the behavior and influence of them on
the coastal environment. However, the depth of the
beach is low, and at low tide sandy banks appears.
3.5.3 Littoral currents
The main direction is determined by the prevailing
wind direction, establishing a longitudinal current to
the shoreline, mainly to the south, although it may
suffer some small local modifications, as in the area of
the Vertientes estuary (close to Playa Florida), where
in there is a strong influence of river flow that comes
from the estuary. It also can produce some small
spatial variations along the shoreline, depending on its
orientation.
3.5.4 Weather Phenomena
The area is affected by tropical hurricanes passing
through the region mainly to the south in the
Caribbean Sea, local storms that usually come from
the south, and flooding from inside the province as a
result heavy rains. These phenomena usually lead sea
flooding that deposited within the human settlement
large quantities of sand carried by the sea, which can
be observed between the houses, since they have not
been returned to the sea, but the villagers put it aside
or deposited in another place far away from the sea.
3.5.5 Vegetation cover
It has varied over the years with adverse effects on the
dynamics of the beach, from the natural vegetation
that gave stability to the sandy bar, until the
introduction of species that accelerate erosion
processes, such as Australian Pine (
Casuarina
equisetifolia
L.), of which there are very few plants
due to logging.
3.6 Soil
In the permanently flooded area, soils are hydro-
morphic type but in the rest of the selected area on
mainland, the soil ferralitic quartzite predominate
(Blanco and Montero, 1989).
3.7 Flora
The flora of the region is composed of 64 species
belonging to 58 genera and 32 botanical families. The
14.9% of the total are endemic, and the majority
belong to the phytogeographical sector of Central
Cuba - Eastern Cuba;
Copernicia gigas
Ekman
(Hediondo),
Copernicia hospita
Mart (Guano
Hediondo),
Copernicia yarey
Burret (Yarey
Hediondo),
Tabebuia trachycarpa
(Griseb.) K. Schum.
(Rompe–Ropa),
Caesalpinia myabensis
Britt. var.
hermeliae
(León) Barreto y
Hybanthus wrightii
Urb.,
all located in the savanna. However, the mangrove
flora is less rich in species but is typical of the area
(Plasencia et al, 2006).
The flora is mostly represented by Pantropical and
Neotropical elements (Figure 2) which agrees with the
results obtained for the flora of the province (Barreto
A., 2000, private communication).