20. Status of coral reefs and associated ecosystems in southern tropical America: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panamá and Venezuela
Registro en:
1447-6185
Autor
Rodríguez Ramírez, Alberto
Bastidas, Carolina
Cortés, Jorge
Guzmán, Héctor
Leão, Zelinda
Garzón Ferreira, Jaime
Kikuchi, Ruy
Padovani Ferreira, Beatrice
Alvarado, Juan José
Jiménez, Carlos
Fonseca, Ana C.
Salas, Eva
Nivia, Jaime
Fernández, Cindy
Rodríguez, Sebastián
Debrot, Denise
Cróquer, Aldo
Gil, Diego
Gómez, Diana Isabel
Navas Camacho, Raúl
Reyes Nivia, María Catalina
Acosta, Alberto
Alvarado, Elvira
Pizarro, Valeria
Sanjuan, Adolfo
Herrón, Pilar
Zapata, Fernando A.
Zea, Sven
López Victoria, Mateo
Sánchez, Juan Armando
Institución
Resumen
The coastal environments in Southern Tropical America are characterized by strong land influences with numerous large rivers, including the Amazon, Orinoco and Magdalena, introducing large amounts of sediments that inhibit the development of extensive coral reefs. Rainfall is among the highest in the world, therefore water turbidity and sedimentation are high. Furthermore, there are several major upwellings (Perú, Gulf of Panamá, Gulf of Papagayo, eastern Colombian Caribbean, and eastern Venezuela) that also reduce reef growth. The best coral reefs are on the Caribbean coasts of Panamá and associated with islands off Colombia and Venezuela. Coral formations are comparatively smaller on the Pacific side, and occur principally along the Costa Rica-Panamá coast.