Keywords
seawater nutrients
light profiles
Cahuita
Limón
Bahía Culebra
Costa Rica
How to Cite
Abstract
The proximity of coral reefs to areas of present and future coastal development in Costa Rica highlights the need for assessing environmental conditions important to maintaining healthy corals. In January 1997 a survey of light penetration, inorganic nutrient concentrations, temperature, and salinity was conducted in the patch reefs of Bahía Culebra (Pacific Ocean) and on the Caribbean coast in the fringing reef at Parque Nacional Cahuita and near Limón. Temperature was 28°C at all sites, and salinity ranged from 33 to 36 psu. Light attenuation coefficients ranged from 0.12 to 0.29 m-1 in reef areas. Seawater nutrient concentrations were within the range of concentrations reported for tropical reef waters; combined NO3 - and NO2 - and PO4 3- were each below 1 μM. NH4 + ranged from 0.2 to 7 μM, representing a significant source of nitrogen. The ratio of total dissolved inorganic nitrogen to phosphate averaged 27 for all reef waters. The high nitrate (3.6 μM) and light attenuation (0.95 m-1) values from the surface waters of the La Estrella plume (Caribbean coast) show that this river represents a significant source of nitrogen and light attenuation for the neighboring reefs at Cahuita. This survey provides a useful baseline for future studies, which should monitor these important coastal coral reef areas during both wet and dry seasons.References
Cortés, J. 1986. Biogeografía de corales hermatípicos: el istmo centroamericano. Anal. Inst. Cienc. Mar Limnolog. UNAM 13: 297-304.
Cortés, J. 1993. Comparison between Caribbean and eastern pacific coral reefs. Rev. Biol. Trop. 41(Suppl. 1): 19-21.
Cortés, J. 1994. A reef under siltation stress: a decade of degradation. p. 240-246. In Ginsburg, R.N. (compiler), Proc. Colloquium on Global Aspects of Coral Reefs: Health, Hazards and History, 1993. RSMAS, Univ. Miami.
Cortés, J. 1996-1997. Biodiversidad marina de Costa Rica: Filo Cnidaria. Rev. Biol. Trop. 44(3)/45(1): 323-334.
Cortés, J. 1998. Cahuita and Laguna Gandoca, Costa Rica: p. 107-113. In Kjerfve, B. (ed.) CARICOMP -- Caribbean Coral Reef, Seagrass and Mangrove Sites. UNESCO, Paris.
Cortés, J. & H.M. Guzmán. 1985. Arrecifes coralinos de la costa Atlántica de Costa Rica. Brenesia 23: 275-292.
Cortés, J. & M.J. Risk. 1985. A reef under siltation stress: Cahuita, Costa Rica. Bull. Mar. Sci. 36: 339-356.
D’Croz, L. & D.R. Robertson. 1997. Coastal oceanographic conditions affecting coral reefs on both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Proc. 8th Int. Coral Reef Symp., Panamá 2: 2053-2058.
D’Elia, C.F. 1988. The cycling of essential elements on coral reefs: p. 195-230. In L.R. Pomeroy & J.J. Alberts (eds.). Concepts of Ecosystem Ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
D’Elia, C.F. & W.J. Wiebe. 1990. Biogeochemical nutrient cycles in coral-reef ecosystems. p. 49-74. In Dubinsky, Z. (ed.) Ecosystems of the World 25: Coral Reefs. Elsevier, The Netherlands.
Dustan, P. 1982. Depth-dependent photoadaptation by zooxanthellae of the reef coral Montastrea annularis. Mar. Biol. 68: 253-264.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O. & G.J. Smith. 1989. Influence of the population density of zooxanthellae and supply of ammonium on the biomass and metabolic characteristics of the reef corals Seriatopora hystrix and Stylophora pistillata. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 57: 173-186.
Jiménez, C.E. 1997. Corals and coral reefs of Culebra Bay, Pacific coast of Costa Rica: anarchy in the reef. Proc. 8th Int. Coral Reef Symp., Panamá 1: 329-334.
Jiménez, C.E. 1998. Arrecifes y comunidades coralinas de Bahía Culebra, Pacífico norte de Costa Rica (Golfo de Papagayo). M.Sc. Thesis. Universidad de Costa Rica. San Pedro, Costa Rica. 218 p.
Jiménez, C. E., J. Cortés, A. León & E. Ruiz. 2001. Coral bleaching and mortality associated with El Niño 1997/98 event in an upwelling environment at the eastern Pacific (Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica). Bull. Mar. Sci. 69 (1): 151-169.
Kirk, J.T.O. 1994. Light and photosynthesis in aquatic ecosystems. Second edition. Cambridge University, Great Britain. 509 p.
Lesser, M.P. 2000. Depth-dependent photoacclimatization to solar ultraviolet radiation in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 192: 137-151.
McCreary, J.P., H.S. Lee & D.B. Enfield. 1989. The response of the coastal ocean to strong offshore winds: with application to circulation in the gulfs of Tehuantepec and Papagayo. J. Mar. Res. 47: 81-109.
Muller-Parker, G., L.R. McCloskey, I.O. Hoegh-Guldberg & P.J. McAuley. 1994. Effect of ammonium enrichment on animal and algal biomass of the coral Pocillopora damicornis. Pac. Sci. 48: 273-283.
Muller-Parker, G. & C.F. D'Elia. 1997. Interactions between corals and their symbiotic algae. p. 96-113. In Birkeland, C. (ed.). Life and Death of Coral Reefs. Chapman & Hall, New York.
Muscatine, L., P.G. Falkowski, Z. Dubinsky, P.A. Cook & L.R. McCloskey. 1989. The effect of external nutrient resources on the population dynamics of zooxanthellae in a reef coral. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B: 236: 325-337.
Parsons, T.R., Y. Maita & C.M. Lalli. 1984. A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis. Pergamon, New York. 173 p.
Shick, J.M., M. Lesser & P.L. Jokiel. 1996. Effects of ultraviolet radiation on corals and other reef organisms. Global Change Biol. 2: 527-545.
Te, F.T. 1997. Turbidity and its effect on corals: a model using the extinction coefficient (K) of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Proc. 8th Int. Coral Reef Symp. (Panamá) 2: 1899-1904.
Comments
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2001 Revista de Biología Tropical