Central Gulf Coast Research Articles

Stalling North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones

Abstract Tropical cyclone (TC) translation speed influences rainfall accumulation, storm surge, and exposure to high winds. These effects are greatest when storms stall. Here, we provide a definition and climatology of slow-moving or stalling TCs in the North Atlantic from 1900 to 2020. A stall is defined as a TC with a track contained in a circular area (“corral”) with a radius of ≤200 km for 72 h. Of the 1274 North Atlantic TCs, 191 storms met this definition (15%). Ten are multistalling storms or those that experienced more than one stall period. Hurricane Ginger in 1971 stalled the most with four separate stalls. Stalling TC locations are clustered in the western Caribbean, the central Gulf Coast, the Bay of Campeche, and near Florida and the Carolinas. Stalling was most common in October TCs (17.3% of October total) and least common in August (8.2%). The estimated annual frequency of stalls significantly increased over the satellite era (1966–2020) by 1.5% yr−1, and the cumulative frequency in the number of stalls compared to all storms also increased. Stalling storms have a significantly higher frequency of major hurricane status than nonstalling storms. Storms are also more likely to stall near the coast (≤200 km). Approximately 40% (n = 77) of the stalling TCs experienced a period of rapid intensification, and five did so within 200 km of a coastal zone. These results will aid emergency managers in regions that experience frequent stalls by providing information they can use to better prepare for the future. Significance Statement The forward movement of a tropical cyclone can influence rainfall, storm surge height, and exposure time to high wind speeds. Storms that slow down or stall can increase total damage by prolonging the exposure time to intense conditions. This study aims to define a stalling storm and then provide a geographic snapshot into our historical experience with these storms. There have been a consistent number of stalling storms over time, with a modest increase starting in the satellite era, likely as a product of increased observational capabilities. Stalls tend to occur in similar places over time and happen more frequently later in the hurricane season (October) when compared to the middle (August). Emergency managers can use this information to identify the likely location and timing for stalls throughout the North Atlantic tropical cyclone season.

Enhanced mycorrhization in four species of columnar cacti under the Sonoran Desert tree <em>Olneya tesota</em>

Background: Columnar cacti survival in deserts occurs mainly under nurse plants, due to better conditions for germination and establishment, as greater humidity, and nutrient concentration. However, interactions like the association between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and roots remain relatively unexplored. We evaluated the mycorrhizal status and soil rhizosphere properties of four columnar cacti species growing both under and outside their nurse plant. Hypotheses: Soil properties improvement under nurse plants has been correlated with the abundance of AMF. Therefore, a greater number of AMF structures and roots mycorrhization would be in facilitated plants, compared to the same species growing outside the nurse. Studied species: Nurse plant: Olneya tesota, facilitated species: Carnegiea gigantea, Pachycereus pringlei, Pachycereus schottii, and Stenocereus thurberi. Study site and dates: Central Gulf Coast subdivision of the Sonoran Desert, Sonora, Mexico; October 2020. Methods: Cacti roots and soil rhizosphere were collected under and outside the nurse plant. Roots were stained, and mycorrhizal colonization (MC), hairy roots (HR), visual density (VD), and number of spores were determined. Physicochemical soil properties were analyzed. Results: Values of MC, VD, spore number, organic matter (OM), nitrate, and total and assimilable phosphorous were higher under the nurse compared to bare areas. Conclusions: The hypothesis that mycorrhization parameters are greater in roots of cacti growing under the nurse was confirmed, besides previous knowledge about soil quality under nurse plants, suggesting that AMF play a significant role in the cacti facilitation process under nurses plants, and that nurse plant plays a significant role in AMF formation.

Central Gulf Coast CDF Freedom Schools’ approach to poverty and learning loss

The Central Gulf Coast Children’s Defense Fund summer program has provided a solution to the issues related to learning loss and poverty over the last three years. Elementary students were strategically selected from low-income, at-risk, and minority communities to participate in the Freedom Schools program. This study describes the benefits to the students, their families, and the community, as well as the Servant Leader Interns who provided the culturally relevant curriculum. The history, structure, and essential components of Freedom Schools are described for the national model and Central Gulf Coast’s approach. The benefits of the program are also shared, as well as the practical implications for the participants in this study.

Overutilization of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Central Gulf Coast Region Results in Unnecessary Expenditure.

When appropriately used, helicopter emergency medical services (HEMSs) allow for timely delivery of severely injured patients to definitive care. Inappropriate utilization of HEMSs results in increased cost to the patient and trauma system. The purpose of this study was to review current HEMS criteria in the central Gulf Coast region and evaluate for potential areas of triage refinement and cost savings. We hypothesized that a significant number of patients received potentially unwarranted HEMS transport. A retrospective cohort study of all patients with trauma arriving to a level I trauma center by helicopter over 28mo was performed; 381 patients with trauma and with HEMS transport from the scene were included. Data were collected from prehospital sources, as well as hospital chart review for each patient. The primary outcome was the rate of unwarranted HEMS transport. A total of 381 adult patients with trauma transported by the HEMS were analyzed, of which 34% were deemed potentially nonwarranted transports. The significant factors correlating with warranted HEMS transport included age, multiple long bone fractures, penetrating mechanism, and vehicle ejection. Insurance demographics did not correlate to transport modality. Many of these patients were transported from a location within the same county or the county adjacent to the trauma center. When comparing patients transported by ground and HEMSs from the same scene, no time savings were identified. Unwarranted transports at the trauma center represented an estimated health care expenditure of over $3 million. HEMSs may be overused in the central Gulf Coast region, creating the risk for a substantial resource and financial burden to the trauma system. Further collaboration is needed to establish HEMS triage criteria, that is, more appropriate use of resources.

Turbidite lobe deposits in a canyon-fill system

Geological feature: Turbidite lobe deposits in a canyon-fill system Seismic appearance: Isolated and irregularly shaped sandstone pods Alternative interpretations: Mid-channel bars in a braided channel system Features with similar appearance: Alluvial fans Formation: Lower Wilcox Group Age: Late Paleocene to Early Eocene Location: Shelf edge at the Central Gulf Coast Region of Texas Seismic data: Donated by a petroleum exploration company in Houston, Texas Analysis tools: Seismic attributes such as instantaneous phase, root-mean-square amplitude, and spectral decomposition

Gulf Coast vicariance shapes phylogeographic history of a North American freshwater mussel species complex

AbstractAimFreshwater mussels share habitat and are parasites of freshwater fishes during the larval life stage. Therefore, models of fish biogeography may also explain the historical biogeography of freshwater mussels. We tested this assumption using predictions of three biogeographic models constructed for northern Gulf of Mexico drainages on a freshwater mussel species complex. Specifically, we tested (1) if speciation was due to vicariant events of fluctuating sea levels that separated lineages east‐west of the Mobile Basin (Central Gulf Coast speciation hypothesis), (2) if the timing of divergences occurred 8.5–3.5 MYA (Gulf Coast allopatric speciation model) and (3) if diversification in Mississippi River populations was recent and for evidence of population increase consistent with range expansion into northern deglaciated regions (Pleistocene glaciation model).LocationEastern North America.TaxonFreshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae), Lampsilis teres and L. floridensis.MethodsWe collected 249 specimens from 73 localities across the group's distribution. We used three molecular markers (COI, NDI & ITSI) to conduct time calibrated Bayesian phylogenetic analyses, phylogeographic analyses (AMOVA & SAMOVA) and demographic analyses including Bayesian skyline plots.ResultsLampsilis teres and L. floridensis are allopatric species whose distributions meet at the eastern edge of the Mobile Basin. Speciation was estimated to occur in the late Miocene. Populations from isolated river systems surrounding the Gulf of Mexico are almost all monophyletic. Mississippi drainage samples formed a shallow clade with recent diversification and showed evidence of recent population expansion.Main conclusionsThe historical biogeography of the L. teres species complex is broadly consistent with tested ichthyofaunal models. The timing of speciation and intraspecific divergences correspond to low sea‐level events suggesting that Gulf Coast sea‐level fluctuations are responsible for dispersal (sea‐level recession) and subsequent cladogenesis (sea‐level inundation). Consistent with numerous other freshwater studies, we found the Mobile Basin to be a suture zone, which may be due to the narrow, offshore continental shelf.

AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF MULEGÉ, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

The arid Central Gulf Coast ecoregion, characterized mainly by sarcocaulescent scrub, is a poorly studied area. This paper addresses this knowledge gap with an annotated checklist of the vascular plants of the Mulegé area (Bahía Concepción to Punta Chivato; 397 km2), which was compiled over at least 267 field days during 15 field seasons between 2003 and 2019. The inventory presents 411 taxa (330 species, 81 infraspecies) in 82 families and 288 genera. There are 342 taxa native to the peninsula, of which 78 are endemic or near-endemic taxa. Six species are included on Mexico's protected species list (NOM-059) and two are on the IUCN Red List. The extensive loss of the mangrove thickets along the Mulegé estuary and the rapid spread of the invasive species Cenchrus ciliare L. (Poaceae) are immediate ecological concerns compounded by the more long term effects of climate change, sea level rise and development. While this study shares up to 74% of families and 66% of the genera of several other regional floras for the peninsula, at the species level it shares between just 23% and 63% with them, highlighting Mulegé's local floristic diversity.

Multi-hazard climate risk projections for the United States

Climate risk is a consequence of climate hazards, exposure, and the vulnerability (IPCC 2014). Here, we assess future (2040–2049) climate risk for the entire contiguous US at the county level with a novel climate risk index integrating multiple hazards, exposures and vulnerabilities. Future, weather and climate hazards are characterized as frequency of heat wave, cold spells, dryer, and heavy precipitation events along with anomalies of temperature and precipitation using high resolution (4 km) downscaled climate projections. Exposure is characterized by projections of population, infrastructure, and built surfaces prone to multiple hazards including sea level rise and storm surges. Vulnerability is characterized by projections of demographic groups most sensitive to climate hazards. We found Florida, California, the central Gulf Coast, and North Atlantic at high climate risk in the future. However, the contributions to this risk vary regionally. Florida is projected to be equally hard hit by the three components of climate risk. The coastal counties in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama are at high climate risk due to high exposure and hazard. High exposure and vulnerability drive high climate risk in California counties. This approach can guide planners in targeting counties at most risk and where adaptation strategies to reduce exposure or protect vulnerable populations might be best applied.

Molecular Variation and Biogeography of the Common North American Turtle Leech, Placobdella parasitica

Placobdella parasitica (Say, 1824) is one of the most commonly encountered turtle leeches in North America. Molecular analysis of individuals of P. parasitica representing various populations throughout its range in North America using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, revealed the presence of nine distinct groups: (1) P. parasitica sensu stricto containing members, including the neotype specimen, occurring broadly throughout the central United States westward from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and throughout southern Ontario, Canada, and the upper midwestern United States as far east as New York State; (2) West Virginia; (3) Mississippi/Alabama; (4) Northeast, including New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont; (5) New England, including Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; (6) North Carolina/West Virginia; (7) South Carolina; (8) Tennessee; and (9) Florida. Both neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood analyses recovered an east-west split along the Appalachian Mountains with groups 1–3 clustering together and groups 4–9 clustering separately, with the exception of group 8 (Tennessee) that placed with the eastern groups. Group 1 includes specimens from a broad geographic distribution, yet with relatively low genetic variation, a pattern observed in other glossiphoniid species in North America. The groups with members east of the Appalachian Mountains are more tightly clustered by locality. This leech species is known to parasitize several turtle species, including Chrysemys picta, the painted turtle that originated in the central Gulf Coast region and dispersed northward representing a recolonization after Pleistocene glaciation. The neighbor-joining tree and pairwise distance data could suggest that P. parasitica has a similar phylogeographic pattern and dispersal history with its turtle hosts. In view of the morphological uniformity among the various groups, P. parasitica is provisionally considered to be a widely distributed, molecularly variable species.

Rainfall Symmetry Related to Moisture, Storm Intensity, and Vertical Wind Shear for Tropical Cyclones Landfalling over the U.S. Gulf Coastline

There continues to be a need to relate rainfall produced by tropical cyclones (TCs) to moisture in the near-storm environment. This research measured the distribution of volumetric rainfall around 43 TCs at the time of landfall over the U.S. Gulf Coast. The spatial patterns of rainfall were related to atmospheric moisture, storm intensity, vertical wind shear, and storm motion. We employed a geographic information system (GIS) to perform the spatial analysis of satellite-derived rain rates and total precipitable water (TPW), which was measured on the day before landfall. Mann–Whitney U tests revealed statistically significant differences in conditions when TCs were grouped by location. TCs moving over Texas entrained dry air from the continent to produce less rainfall to the left of their moving direction. As moisture was plentiful, rainfall symmetry during landfall over the central Gulf Coast was mainly determined by the vector of vertical wind shear and storm intensity. For landfalls over the Florida peninsula, interaction with a cooler and drier air mass left of center created an uplift boundary that corresponded with more rainfall on the TC’s left side when the moisture boundary represented by the 40 mm contour of TPW existed 275–350 km from the storm center.

Morphological, Molecular, and Biogeographic Evidence for Specific Recognition of Euthamia hirtipes and Euthamia scabra (Asteraceae, Astereae)

Abstract—The number and identity of species within Euthamia (Asteraceae, Astereae) have varied considerably among taxonomic treatments. Euthamia graminifolia (L.) Nutt. is often treated broadly, including plants from the northern and eastern United States and Canada, including the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Broad-leaved, largely glabrous plants from New Jersey to the Florida Panhandle have been inconsistently treated as E. graminifolia, E. graminifolia var. hirtipes (Fernald) C.E.S. Taylor & R.J. Taylor, E. hirtipes (Fernald) Sieren, or a hybrid between E graminifolia and E. caroliniana (L.) Greene ex Porter & Britton. Similarly, plants from the Florida Panhandle to eastern Louisiana have been incorporated into E. graminifolia or E. graminifolia var. hirtipes with only Greene in 1902 recognizing these plants as a distinct species, E. scabra Greene. To determine the identity and proper rank of these entities, morphological and phylogenetic analyses were performed to evaluate relationships within Euthamia. Plants from the Atlantic Coast most morphologically resemble Gulf Coast plants which similarly resemble E. gymnospermoides Greene. The Gulf Coast plants and E. gymnospermoides share similar DNA sequences while the Atlantic Coast plants represent a unique clade. Neither Gulf Coast nor Atlantic Coast plants contain highly polymorphic sequences, indicating that they are not hybrids. Occasional plants found within southernmost Alabama and the Florida Panhandle have polymorphic sequences and intermediate morphology however, suggesting that putative hybrids exist between Gulf and Atlantic Coast plants. This study concludes that both entities deserve specific rank as E. scabra Greene for scabrous plants along the central Gulf Coast and E. hirtipes (Fernald) Sieren for largely glabrous plants mostly along the Atlantic Coast. Ecological niche modeling indicates that precipitation, especially during summer months, and soils, namely coarse fragments and sand content, drive the distribution of these organisms, largely restricted to either side of the Apalachicola River serving as a distributional barrier.

Economic losses from extreme weather in the U.S. Gulf Coast region: spatially differential contributions of climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability

Worldwide economic losses from extreme weather events (EWE) have increased over recent decades, with significant geographic heterogeneity in damages. The IPCC defines the risk from EWE as a function of the climate hazard, socioeconomic exposure, and vulnerability. Although these three drivers vary at fine spatial scales, spatial variability largely has been overlooked in assessments of the drivers of economic loss from EWE. Using cluster analysis, we developed a novel socio-climate hazard typology (SCT) that integrates locally defined climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and social vulnerability typologies. The results identified 838 unique SCT types impacted by EWE across the Gulf Coastal United States during 1981–2010. We regressed the SCT types and their constituent hazard and socioeconomic components against the cumulative economic loss (1981–2010) from EWE for each SCT type. Across the landscape, economic damages of SCT types were determined by unique, spatially explicit combinations of different risk factors, even in explaining the same level of economic loss. For example, multi-billion-dollar damages in the central Gulf Coast and peninsular Florida were explained by different drivers of risk, with damages in the former explained by additive interaction between climate hazard and multiplicative interaction between climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability, and in the latter explained by socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability. These results highlight the need to diagnose additive and multiplicative interactions among drivers of EWE risk in a spatially explicit context.

Impact of training system on ‘Blanc Du Bois’ vegetative growth, yield components and fruit composition

‘Blanc Du Bois’ (Vitisspp.) is the most widely grown Pierce’s disease tolerant white grapevine cultivar in Texas. As an interspecific hybrid, its growth habit is seimi-drooping, and 'Blanc Du Bois' is characterized as vigorous. This study evaluated the impact of training system (Mid-Wire Cordon with VSP, Mid-Wire Cane with VSP and Smart-Dyson, High-Wire Quadralateral, and Watson) on 'Blanc Du Bois' growth, yield components, and fruit composition at two locations in Texas. The first site was located in the Rio Grande Valley where the mean extreme minimum winter temperature is -1.1 to 1.7° C (USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 10a). As a result of climate and site conditions, vine size, determined by dormant pruning weight, was very large averaging from 3.71 to 5.56 kg per vine across training systems over a three-year period. At this site, the horizontally divided systems, High-Wire Quadrilateral and Watson were the highest yielding averaging 10.66 and 7.49 kg per vine, respectively, as a result of more shoots per vine, and higher fruitfulness. The Mid-Wire Cordon and Mid-Wire Cane Pruned Training Systems had lower yields in two out of three years, but fruit maturity indices soluble solids and pH reflected more advanced maturity at harvest. At the second site, located in the Central Gulf Coast of Texas (USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 8b), vines were less vigorous with pruning weights averaging 1.66 to 1.83 kg per vine across training systems over three years. Consistent differences in yield components, vine size, and fruit composition were not observed, and all the three training systems under study had acceptable growth and fruiting characteristics. The results of this research suggest that 'Blanc Du Bois’ vigor potential and growth habit makes it well-suited for horizontally divided canopy training systems, particularly on vigorous sites.

Studying the Clinical Data of COVID Positive Patients Admitted to a Tertiary Care Academic Hospital.

Background:As the time this data was studied in Florida, USA was expecting a surge in number of COVID patients. We are hereby presenting analysis of clinical data collected from the first 30 COVID positive patients admitted to our teaching hospital in Sarasota Florida.Methods:The present study was conducted at a not-for-profit 839-bed level-2 regional trauma center, level-3 neurointensive intensive care unit (ICU), and comprehensive stroke and cardiovascular center located on Florida's Central Gulf Coast. It was a single-center, retrospective review of the first 30 patients with reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction confirmed 2019-nCoV infection between March and April 2020. Deidentified patient demographic data, abnormal admission laboratory and radiology findings, treatment medications received, need for mechanical ventilation, complications, and final outcome were recorded.Results:A total of 30 patients were included who were admitted during the study period. Majority of the patients (86%) were elderly, males were 57%, and the average age was 70 years (range, 38–90). About 43% had any travel history outside the region and most (83%) had a comorbidity. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath were common presenting symptoms. About 33% of the patients required ICU at presentation. Abnormal imaging on presentation was present in 80% of the patients and 42% of them had nonspecific bilateral opacities. Complications seen included acute hypoxic respiratory failure (43%), renal failure (13%), septic shock (10%), cytokine storm (3%), and cardiomyopathy (3%). All nonsurvivors developed acute respiratory distress syndrome prior to death. Of the survivors, 21 (70%) were relieved and were discharged.Conclusion:The most common presenting symptoms included fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Patients who required ICU admission at presentation had a worse prognosis. Those with greater severity of symptoms were mainly elderly patients among which the most common comorbidity was hypertention followed by cardiac disease.

Using Multistaged Magnetic Survey and Excavation to Assess Community Settlement Organization: A Case Study from the Central Peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida

AbstractIntegrating geophysical survey with the study of community settlement patterns can be challenging because of cultural and environmental factors including (1) site formation and house preservation, (2) the coordination of domestic tasks at extra-household scales, and (3) the survey environment of the study area. In this article, we present the results of a program of geophysical survey comprising magnetic susceptibility and magnetometry at Weeden Island (8Pi1)—a shell-bearing, wooded site with nearly pure sand soils on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Combining remote sensing techniques mitigated some of the challenges of surveying forested terrain while providing insight into community organization at a site with minimal preserved structural remains. Compared with previous traditional surveys of the area, the geophysical survey extended the recognized boundaries of occupational activity, provided additional definition to the spatial structure of deposits, and allowed us to identify specific domestic features. Excavations at each area of intensive occupation provided evidence about the organization of the domestic economy at the site and showed the potential of this approach to reveal significant patterns of community settlement.

Exploring the season of mound building through oxygen isotope geochemistry at the Garden Patch site, Gulf Coast Florida, USA

ABSTRACTThe American Southeast saw the development of large ceremonial village centers, the coalescence of households, and monumental architecture integrated into village layout during the Middle Woodland period (ca. AD 1–600). These shifts toward more sedentary lifeways occurred independently of, and prior to, the domestication of plants across the Southeast. This paper examines the seasonality of monumental construction at the Garden Patch site located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida. This site contains evidence for rapid mound construction that followed a predetermined site plan. Here, we present oxygen isotope analyses of archaeological mollusk shells (Crassostrea virginica) to evaluate the seasonality and periodicity of monument construction. We conclude that mound construction occurred during the cooler months of the year. Ultimately, this contributes to an anthropological understanding of the development of these early ceremonial centers in the Southeast.

COASTRR: COASTAL STORM RAPID RESPONSE MEASUREMENTS OF HURRICANE HARVEY IMPACT AND RECOVERY ON TWO TEXAS BARRIER ISLANDS

The COAstal STorm Rapid Response (COASTRR) system has been implemented to measure hydro-dynamic, morphodynamic, and sedimentary processes occurring along coastlines during storm impact and subsequent recovery. Relatively few measurements are available to evaluate the physical processes shaping coastal systems during extreme storm events, nor to assess post-storm system recovery (e.g. Sherwood et al., 2014). Prior to landfall of Hurricane Harvey, instruments to collect high-resolution in-situ hydrodynamic measure-ments across two different barrier island transects on the upper Texas Gulf Coast were deployed before and recovered after the storm. Hurricane Harvey struck the central Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on August 25, 2017 causing severe infrastructure damage and erosion near its landfall location but generating mostly accretional features at the two field sites on Hog Island and Follets Island, respectively, which were located more than 160 miles northeast of Harvey’s landfall location.

“It's Not Where I'd be Running like an Idiot for a Small One:” Hurricane Perceptions and Evacuation Decision Making among Florida Mobile Home Residents

In the eyes of experts, Florida mobile home residents near the Central Gulf coast experience high levels of disaster risk and physical vulnerability, mandating special warnings and protections during hazards. However, this view is not typically shared by mobile home residents themselves who generally consider the risk of hurricanes to be low or acceptable, and who often believe their homes are safe enough, at least up to a certain point. These mundane perceptions, in combination with other factors, rather than “objective” risk and vulnerability, significantly influence how mobile home residents make evacuation decisions. Contributing to the issues of social vulnerability and marginality in disaster research, this paper offers a qualitative analysis of 103 interviews with Florida mobile home households conducted between 2008 and 2010. Besides demonstrating patterns of risk and (physical) vulnerability perception among study participants, and evaluating their impact on evacuation decisions, the analysis highlights the need to account for human agency and interpretation in scholarly disaster discourse, proposing symbolic interactionism as a relevant theoretical framework.

Utilizing Crowd-Sourced Rainfall and Flood Impact Information to Improve the Analysis of the North Central Gulf Coast Flood Event of April 2014

Utilizing Crowd-Sourced Rainfall and Flood Impact Information to Improve the Analysis of the North Central Gulf Coast Flood Event of April 2014

Caracterización Ecológica Cuantitativa De La Vegetación En Sitios De La Costa Central Del Golfo En El Desierto Sonorense

The Central Gulf Coast, subdivision of the Sonoran Desert, requires urgent actions to ecological restoration and development of sustainable alternatives to promote the generation of economic benefits in a manner consistent with the conservation of natural resources. Four sites were selected in the coastal region of the municipality of Hermosillo between 28°42'04" and 28°52'24" North and 111°45'39" and 111°56'48" West. Sites are representative of the various plant associations with variants in soil structure, topography and intensities of use. General plant diversity, plant density, height and canopy cover from shrub/tree plants, and basal cover from herbaceous plants were evaluated at each site. Species richness indices, equity and diversity among plant communities were compared. Major plant associations were identified as 1) Sarcocaulescent scrub, 2) Halophytes Communities, 3) Arbo-crasicaulescent scrub, and 4) Arbo-suffrutescent scrub. Sixty five plant species in 26 families were identified. Families with higher number of species were Cactaceae (12), Euphorbiaceae (7), Fabaceae (7) and Malvaceae (5). Species richness and diversity indices indicated differences between sites. Values of relative importance are identified among plant associations for subsequent analysis of productive and ecological trends as well as for the assessment of wildlife diversity and population parameters associated to each condition of the vegetation. This work is aimed to generate integral models for identifying feasibility and setting priorities for ecological restoration practices in the Sonoran Desert.