Alberto Acosta

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana · Department of Biology

The formulation of effective control strategies for any pest species generally involves the study of habitat use and preference and niche width in anthropogenically transformed natural landscapes. We evaluated whether the use, habitat preference, and niche range of the Amblyomma mixtum tick changed between stages, habitats, and seasonality (dry-wet...

Viruses are among the most abundant biological entities in the ocean, largely responsible of modulating nutrients fluxes and influencing microbial composition and functioning. In marine invertebrate holobionts like sponges and their associated microbiomes, little is known about virome composition. Here, we characterized the Haliclona fulva hologeno...

El mar territorial colombiano, con costas en el mar Caribe y el océano Pacífico, comprende unos 2.070.408 km2, lo cual significa que cerca del 50% del territorio nacional es marítimo. A través de este libro se hace una invitación a las generaciones actuales y futuras a ejercer soberanía, defender y cuidar este bien, para conservar la biodiversidad...

Studying a species’ tolerance to an ecosystem’s environmental conditions and its selection of available resources is relevant in ecological and evolutionary terms. Moreover, formulation of effective control strategies implicitly includes the study of habitat use and preference and niche width in anthropogenically transformed natural landscapes. Her...

El presente documento técnico, es la primera edición de un Plan de Gobernanza, que busca dar lineamientos de la estructura básica, normativa, funcionamiento, y plan de acción de la Red Latinoamericana de Acidificación del Océano (LAOCA), para coordinar de manera más eficiente los esfuerzos de investigación en Acidificación del Océano (AO) en Latino...

The analysis of synoptic satellite data of total chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and the environmental drivers that influence nutrient and light availability for phytoplankton growth allows us to understand the spatio-temporal variability of phytoplankton biomass. In the Panama Bight Tropical region (PB; 1–9ºN, 79–84ºW), the spatial distribution of Chl-a is...

Herein, a new habitat for the heterobranch mollusk Umbraculum is described. One specimen was found on a Thalassia testudinum bed at Taganga Bay at 3 m depth, a buffer area of the Tayrona National Park, Colombian Caribbean. To the best of our knowledge, these mollusks have not been previously reported in this kind of habitat. Seagrasses may provide...

Coral reefs world‐wide are threatened by thermal stress caused by climate change. Especially devastating periods of coral loss frequently occur during El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events originating in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). El Niño‐induced thermal stress is considered the primary threat to ETP coral reefs. An increase in the fr...

The IUCN considers the stony coral Dendrogyra cylindrus as vulnerable. However, there is insufficient information on its population structure and dynamics, conservation status, or extinction risk and population decreases have been inferred from observations of habitat degradation. In 2002 and 2012, surveys using manta tows, circular plots and satel...

Long-distance dispersal is believed to strongly infuence coral reef population dynamics across the Tropical Pacifc. However, the spatial scale and strength at which populations are potentially connected by dispersal remains uncertain. To determine the patterns in connectivity between the Eastern (ETP) and Central Tropical Pacifc (CTP) ecoregions, w...

Population growth and economic development in Latin America has led to an increase in seismic surveying to find new marine hydrocarbon reserves. However, most countries along the Pacific, Atlantic, and Caribbean lack the standards to minimize the impact of seismic exploration on marine organisms. We searched primary and secondary literature in majo...

The coral reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) are some of the most geographically isolated of the world. A key to understanding their long-term persistence and population recovery via dispersal (i.e. population connectivity), is knowing when the corals spawn in the region. To this end, we reviewed and synthesized the literature on the repro...

Megabalanus peninsularis is a key species in the rocky shore, particularly in Malpelo Island in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) where it dominates the mesolittoral zone and the infralittoral fringe. The size structure of M. peninsularis was determined to infer the population state (pyramid model) by measuring the basal diameter of individuals (n...

The coral reefs worldwide have suffered a decline during the past three decades. These changes have been evaluated in fringing reefs; nevertheless, it is not known if the factors causing those changes affect the coral community dynamics during the !rst states of the succession, before the development of a reef. To resolve this question, during 2004...

The growth rate in ten months (September 1992 - july 1993) for 30 colonies of Acropora palmata along the northern zone of the Corales del Rosario national natural park, Colombian Caribbean, was determined. Three measuring techniques were used: by hand, by staining with alizarin red, and from growth bands by X ray photography. The annual growth esti...

This study determined the gametogenic cycle, fecundity and fertility of Montastraea annularis, in the Isla Grande coral reef, Archipelago of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, one of the most degraded reefs in the Colombian Caribbean. The surveyed population is currently characterized by medium size colonies (ca. 3379 cm2), with 27 % of the ramets showing...

Coral recruitment determines the maintenance, renovation and future of the coral community. In order to determine the composition, density and importance value of scleractinian juvenile corals (<2 or < 4 cm of diameter; depending of the species) two localities were sampled (Reggae Nest and El Faro) at the deep leeward terrace site of San Andres Isl...

Little has been published on a small-scale (x < 100 ha) about the independent impact of the shape and size of fragments on community structure of any biological group. Only studies in large scale, in temperate ecosystems, have been performed. Here, the bird community structure was assessed in small High-Andean tropical forest fragments (x < 100 ha)...

Cyanobacterial blooms have increased in coastal waters worldwide, facilitated by excessive nutrient input and apparently global warming. They exert negative consequences in marine ecosystems, communities and habitats. Although reports of these events are frequent, their spatial extent and affected habitats are not completely recognized, hence restr...

Abstract: Cyanobacterial blooms have increased in coastal waters worldwide, facilitated by excessive nutrient input and apparently global warming. They exert negative consequences in marine ecosystems, communities and habitats. Although reports of these events are frequent, their spatial extent and affected habitats are not completely recognized, h...

HaviStat© v2.2 is available in Spanish and English. In this version reported errors and recommendations from v1.0 were fixed and implemented. HaviStat© allows users to perform the necessary mathematical, statistical and graphical procedures required to preliminarily infer use, selection, and preference for habitat/resources, and to estimate the nic...

The future of scientific journals in Latin America is uncertain. The inability to calculate bibliometric indicators to classify and homologate journals according to globally-used quartiles reduces journal visibility. For instance, Colombian journals classified in the National Bibliographic Database Publindex (BBNP) under categories A1, A2, B and C,...

p>Determining authorship and the order of authorship in scientific papers, in modern interdisciplinary and interinstitutional science, has become complex at a legal and ethical level. Failure to define authorship before or during the research, creates subsequent problems for those considered authors of a publication or lead authors of a work, parti...

La estrategia del Corredor Marino del Pacífico Este Tropical (CMAR) fue formulada por los gobiernos de Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia y Panamá para armonizar las acciones de conservación y las políticas ambientales. Las áreas marinas protegidas de la región, pilares de este acuerdo, se soportan conceptualmente sobre la teoría de conectividad ecológi...

Little evidence exists on the dependence between the presence and abundance of juvenile hermatypic corals and the conditions of their habitats, despite that juveniles contribute with the understanding of the community structure and its reproductive success. To assess this, the abundance of nine species of juvenile corals was correlated with eight m...

Climatic anomalies have changed the ocean circulation pattern and thus the demographic connectivity. However, in many geographical regions there is insufficient evidence of this change. Therefore, comparisons were made between neutral years and years of El Niño and La Niña with moderate intensity, for the North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC), th...

Recruitment, defined and measured as the incorporation of new individuals (i.e. coral juveniles) into a population, is a fundamental process for ecologists, evolutionists and conservationists due to its direct effect on population structure and function. Because most coral populations are self-feeding, a breakdown in recruitment would lead to local...

p> Abstract Recruitment, defined and measured as the incorporation of new individuals (i.e. coral juveniles) into a population, is a fundamental process for ecologists, evolutionists and conservationists due to its direct effect on population structure and function. Because most coral populations are self-feeding, a breakdown in recruitment would...

Colombian scientific journals are poorly represented in international digital libraries; however, through Google Scholar (GS) it is possible to determine their use by the community. Between the years of 2003 and 2007 a classification of 185 Colombian journals indexed in the Colombian National Bibliographical Index (IBNP) was performed using the inf...

Dung beetles are a well-defined guild within the family Scarabaeidae, with distinctive morphological, ecological and behavioural characteristics (Halffter & Matthews 1966). Although this group has been extensively studied (Hanski & Cambefort 1991) due in part to the important role they fulfil in ecosystems (Nichols et al . 2008), little information...

p> Abstract Objective. Studies about sponge-zoanthid symbioses have been focused on understanding the specificity of the association, rather than testing what are the characteristics that make the host suitable to be colonized. For the first time it is investigated whether the Zoantharia Parazoanthus and Epizoanthus preference is related to the h...

Objective. Studies about sponge-zoanthid symbioses have been focused on understanding the specificity of the association, rather than testing what are the characteristics that make the host suitable to be colonized. For the first time it is investigated whether the Zoantharia Parazoanthus and Epizoanthus preference is related to the host sponge mor...

Los arrecifes de coral son uno de los ecosistemas más productivos y biodiversos del planeta. Son entidades biológicas complejas que fascinan por su belleza y colorido. Los corales brindan una estructura tridimensional que sirve de hábitat para miles de especies marinas (casi un tercio de los peces del mundo están en ellos). Así mismo, suplen a la s...

The coral reefs worldwide have suffered a decline during the past three decades. These changes have been evaluated in fringing reefs; nevertheless, it is not known if the factors causing those changes affect the coral community dynamics during the first states of the succession, before the development of a reef. To resolve this question, during 200...

This study determined the gametogenic cycle, fecundity and fertility of Montastraea annularis, in the Isla Grande coral reef, Archipelago of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, one of the most degraded reefs in the Colombian Caribbean. The surveyed population is currently characterized by medium size colonies (ca. 3379 cm2), with 27 % of the ramets showing...

Las poblaciones de Montastraea annularis muestran síntomas de declinamiento y sin embargo, pocos estudios se han realizado sobre tipos, frecuencias e intensidad de lesiones naturales in situ. Durante un año, septiembre 2003 a septiembre 2004, se hizo el seguimiento anual de lesiones naturales que aparecieron en ramets sanos de una población en un a...

Currently, Montastraea annularis populations are suffering from high partial mortality rates; yet few studies have determined type, frequency and intensity of natural lesions in situ. During a year we followed natural lesions that appeared on healthy ramets of a population on a degraded reef within a Marine Protected Area in Colombia, to infer the...

Los escarabajos coprófagos son un gremio definido, perteneciente a la familia Scarabaeidae, que ha sido ampliamente estudiado, no obstante la mayor parte de las especies carecen de información poblacional, especialmente del efecto de barreras geográficas a su dispersión. Este es el caso de Sulcophaneus leander, que no posee estimativos de su tamaño...

The decline of Montastraea annularis (Ellis and Solander, 1786) in Caribbean coral communities has been documented, however, studies of its population structure are scarce. Colony size provides information about longevity of the sexual individual in the habitat and the effect of the environment on its survival, while ramet size reflects the effect...

The species habitat preference is an important topic in biology, ecology, evolution, and management and conservation of biodiversity, since it allows us to determine the resources and conditions required by species for survival, reproduction and persistence through time. This topic is high priority due to the rapid climatic changes that, according...

The species habitat preference is an important topic in biology, ecology, evolution, and management and conservation of biodiversity, since it allows us to determine the resources and conditions required by species for survival, reproduction and persistence through time. This topic is high priority due to the rapid climatic changes that, according...

There are few regional studies attempting to compare the asexual reproductive output of marine populations, particularly when they are exposed to different environmental conditions. In this study we compared Caribbean and Southwestern Atlantic Palythoa caribaeorum populations in terms of ramet production, the minimum colony size for fission, and th...

Definir quién es autor de una obra y el orden de autoría en artículos científicos ha sido un problema complejo enmarcado en aspectos éticos. El hecho de no aclarar la autoría antes, o durante la realización de la investigación crea descontento y problemas a posteriori entre los que se consideran autores de una publicación, más aun cuando el proyect...

Base line study at Yundigua and El Muelle coral formations, Gorgona Island, Colombian Pacific. The Gorgona reefs in the National Natural Park are considered the most important for the Tropical East Pacific (TEP) due its complex development and extension; for this reason they have been widely studied in Colombia. However, the community structure of...

Coral reef recruitment is a fundamental process because it determines the maintenance, renovation and future reef structure. In order to determine the composition, density and importance value of scleractinian juvenile corals (<2 or < 4 cm of diameter; depending of the species) two localities were sampled (Reggae Nest and El Faro) at the deep leewa...

Several predictions have been made, about magnitude and direction of temporal changes in the coral community structure, during the last decade. However, few studies have demonstrated it quantitatively. In order to document such changes, the coral community structure was studied in four continental reefs in the Colombian Caribbean, two in the Santa...

Populations of the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1861) were monitored in a 2-yr study at several sites on the São Paulo coast, Brazil, to describe, quantify, and compare fission processes occurring in moderately vs. highly stressed environments. The effects of depth and season were also considered. Palythoa caribaeorum...

Bol. Invest. Mar. Cost. 34 161-191 ISSN 0122-9761 Santa Marta, Colombia, 2005 ABSTRACT Temporal change in the coral community structure in the Santa Marta area -

Sexual reproduction of the coral Diploria labyrinthiformis was studied for the first time. Monthly histological analyses at the Corales del Rosario National Park (Colombian Caribbean) from May 1997 to April 1998 show that D. labyrinthiformis is a hermaphroditic broadcasting species. It presents an annual gametogenic cycle with a 10-11 month period...

Numerous diseases in benthic marine organisms have been recognized over the last decade. Here, a new disease (pathogen unknown) is described and quantified in space and time for Palythoa caribaeorum (Cnidaria, Zoanthidea) populations on the So Paulo coast, Brazil (23 S). The degree of environmental stress (moderate vs. high), depth and temporal var...

Fragmentation is an important characteristic of the life history, population dynamics, and genetic structure of at least five metazoan phyla. This study represents a first report of modes of fragmentation and their relative importance to population growth in Palythoa caribaeorum (Cnidaria, Zoanthidea). Several populations at two coastal sites in Br...

Sexual reproduction of the reef-building coral Montastreacavernosa was studied in the Santa Marta area, Caribbean coast of Colombia, from October 1990 to October 1991. The area is subjected to a seasonal upwelling–outwelling regime. From microscopical analysis of tissue sections sampled each lunar month around the full moon, it was confirmed that t...

The growth rate in ten months (September 1992 - july 1993) for 30 colonies of Acropora palmata along the northern zone of the Corales del Rosario national natural park, Colombian Caribbean, was determined. Three measuring techniques were used: by hand, by staining with alizarin red, and from growth bands by X ray photography. The annual growth esti...

The present study was done in order to study the posibility of recovering the coral species Acropora palmata in the Natural Park Corales del Rosario. The percentage of regeneration of 42 mechanically fragmented colonies, as well as the percentage of survival of 53 fragments of this species, was determined. The regeneration of tissue for 25 colonies...

La hemorragia durante la gestación está relacio-nada con la morbilidad y mortalidad perinatales. La exacta incidencia de estas afecciones a veces no es clara, por falta de estudios de series y diferencia en los reportes de distintos hospitales y países. Por sus características, peculiaridades y cuadro clínico, los sangramientos se agrupan en: 1. Sa...