Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5766054 | Journal of Sea Research | 2017 | 10 Pages |
Abstract
This study assessed the coral reef condition of two marine protected areas in the Caribbean: Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba, and Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres-Punta Cancun-Punta Nizuc National Park, Mexico, in a two-year period. The analyzed indicators for corals were live coral cover, diameter and height of the colonies, ancient and recent mortalities and abundance of recruits, which were evaluated in quadrats of 1Â m2. In addition, it was estimated the coverage by morphofunctional groups of macroalgae in 25Â ÃÂ 25Â cm quadrats and the density of the Diadema antillarum urchin in 1Â m2 quadrats. The results showed differences between countries at broad spatial scales (hundreds of kilometers). Reefs of both MPAs seem to be in different stages of changes, which have been associated with deterioration of Caribbean reefs, toward the dominance of more resistant, non-tridimensional coral species, causing a decrease of the reef complexity that may leads to the reefs to collapse. At scales of kilometers (within MPAs), a similar pattern was found in reefs of GNP-Cuba and different trends were observed in reefs of CNP-Mexico. The observed differences between CNP-Mexico sites appear to be associated with the current tourism use patterns.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Oceanography
Authors
Susana Perera-Valderrama, Héctor Hernández-Arana, Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate, Pedro M. Alcolado, Hansel Caballero-Aragón, Jaime González-Cano, Alejandro Vega-Zepeda, Isael Victoria-Salazar, Dorka Cobián-Rojas, Juliett González-Méndez,