A paradoxical reef from Varadero, Cartagena Bay, Colombia

Coral reefs in the Bay of Cartagena, Colombia, have been heavily disturbed by anthropogenic perturbations since the founding of Cartagena in 1533. A prominent perturbation was the construction of Canal del Dique, a channel built by the Spaniards to shorten the access to the Magdalena River, a major...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2015-03, Vol.34 (1), p.231-231
Main Authors: López-Victoria, Mateo, Rodríguez-Moreno, Melina, Zapata, Fernando A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Coral reefs
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Life Sciences
Marine biology
Marine ecology
Oceanography
Reef Site
Species diversity
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Summary:Coral reefs in the Bay of Cartagena, Colombia, have been heavily disturbed by anthropogenic perturbations since the founding of Cartagena in 1533. A prominent perturbation was the construction of Canal del Dique, a channel built by the Spaniards to shorten the access to the Magdalena River, a major waterway used by Colombian authorities for colonization and later for commercial purposes. Corals in shallow areas of this reef exhibit the attened and encrusting growth forms typical of greater depths (>1520 m). This coral formation is a unique resource that should be conserved and further studied considering its high species diversity, the large size of some of its coral colonies, and the atypical conditions under which it developed.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-014-1246-y