Fernando A Zapata

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• Ph.D.
• Professor (Full) at University of Valle

Reef-building corals live in close mutualism with dinoflagellate algae (family Symbiodiniaceae), which play key roles in coral physiological performance and survival. Association patterns between host species and endosymbiont algae and their significance are still not fully understood, but they seem to affect the ability of hosts to inhabit differe...

The shape and size of a coral reef are both key factors influencing its ecology and biodiversity. These parameters play a fundamental role in the creation of specific habitats that support a rich biodiversity. They also greatly influence its resilience to climatic events and external influences. Here we present a practical example of photogrammetri...

A core challenge in ecology is identifying the factors that determine species distribution and functional diversity of species assemblages. Reef fish are the most diverse group of vertebrates, form taxonomically rich and functionally diverse communities and represent a key source of food for humans. We examine regional distribution patterns of reef...

A core challenge in ecology is identifying the factors that determine species distribution and functional diversity of species assemblages. Reef fish are the most diverse group of vertebrates, form taxonomically rich and functionally diverse communities and represent a key source of food for humans. We examine regional distribution patterns of reef...

Upwelling events can change the sea water conditions within few hours during several months on a seasonal regimen. These events are predicted to intensify due to climate change, exposing shallow benthic organisms to hypoxia and thermal stress, among other extreme conditions. Some coral reefs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) recurrently experie...

Dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) is one of the main factors limiting benthic species distribution. Due to ocean warming and eutrophication, the ocean is deoxygenating. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), deep waters with low DO (<1 mg L ⁻¹ ) may reach coral reefs, because upwelling will likely intensify due to climate change. To understand ox...

Coral reefs worldwide 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 fre...

Due to the worldwide degradation of coral reefs, the active restoration of these ecosystems has received considerable attention in recent decades. This study investigated i) the feasibility of using coral nurseries for restoration projects, ii) the minimum size required for a Pocillopora damicornis (Pocilloporidae) coral fragment to survive and gro...

Dispersal is thought to be an important process determining range size, especially for species in highly spatially structured habitats, such as tropical reef fishes. Despite intensive research efforts, there is conflicting evidence about the role of dispersal in determining range size. We hypothesize that traits related to dispersal drive range siz...

We present evidence of coral sexual recruitment, which has typically been low in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, on coral reefs and rocky sites of Gorgona Island, Colombia, and for the first time in the Colombian Pacific. With data obtained by thoroughly examining natural substrates, coral juveniles of at least ten species were found at ten out of 19...

Transplantation of coral fragments is a common procedure for the restoration of degraded coral reefs. In the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP), the branching coral Pocillopora damicornis is the main reef-builder, and it frequently propagates through natural fragmentation; it is therefore a candidate for restoration efforts in this region. To evaluate...

Diversity patterns are determined by biogeographic, energetic, and anthropogenic factors, yet few studies have combined them into a large‐scale framework in order to decouple and compare their relative effects on fish faunas. Using an empirical dataset derived from 1527 underwater visual censuses (UVC) at 18 oceanic islands (five different marine p...

La Chola Reef is located at the easternmost sector of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. This coral formation of 11 ha is dominated by branching corals of the genus Pocillopora. The main goal of this study was to evaluate changes in coral cover over time, by comparing data collected in 2002 and 2013, implementing the chain transect methodology. Addition...

The present study describes the cleaning interactions among species of cleaner gobies Tigrigobius spp. and Elacatinus puncticulatus (family Gobiidae) and the client fish species they clean in a coral reef of Gorgona Island, Colombia. In 419 cleaning events, we observed 27 species acting as clients of Tigrigobius spp., whereas only nine were clients...

Coral reefs are commonly associated with oligotrophic, well-illuminated waters. In 2013, a healthy coral reef was discovered in one of the least expected places within the Colombian Caribbean: at the entrance of Cartagena Bay, a highly-polluted system that receives industrial and sewage waste, as well as high sediment and freshwater loads from an o...

Varadero and Barú coral species List of scleractinian and fire coral species in Varadero and Northern Barú Reefs. Data are the frequency of occurrence (average,%) or presence/absence (+∕ −, visual surveys).

Varadero and Barú sponge species List of sponge species comparing two reef zones in Varadero and Northern Barú Reefs. Data are frequency of occurrence (%, 30 ×2-m2 transects, n = 7 and 4 at Varadero and Barú, respectively), or presence (+, visual surveys).

Varadero and Barú fish species List of fish species observed at Varadero and Barú. Abundance values are mean (±S.D.) number of individuals per species observed in 30 ×2-m2 belt transects (n = 15 and 7 at Varadero and Barú, respectively). Species observed outside transects are indicated by an x.

Fish species richness variation at Barú and Varadero Reefs Variation in fish species richness as a function of number of visual censuses (sample-based rarefaction curves) for the fish censuses made at Barú and Varadero Reefs.

Coral reefs are highly dynamic ecosystems often affected by diverse natural disturbances. However, dramatic declines in coral cover during recent decades raise the question of whether such declines are due to increasing anthropogenic impacts. To this end, the dynamics of coral and algal cover were studied based on data collected between 1998-2014 f...

Coral reefs supply millions of people with ecosystem goods and services, especially those living along tropical coastlines. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming pace. In the Caribbean, the rate of coral loss is high (5.5 – 9.2% per year) and constant. In 2013, a healthy coral reef was discovered in one of the least expect...

Coral reefs supply millions of people with ecosystem goods and services, especially those living along tropical coastlines. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming pace. In the Caribbean, the rate of coral loss is high (5.5 – 9.2% per year) and constant. In 2013, a healthy coral reef was discovered in one of the least expect...

Advances in our knowledge of eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) coral reef biogeography and ecology during the past two decades are briefly reviewed. Fifteen ETP subregions are recognized, including mainland and island localities from the Gulf of California (Mexico) to Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). Updated species lists reveal a mean increase of 4.2...

In the present study we report a set of 13 novel microsatellites isolated from and characterized for the Acapulco damselfish Stegastes acapulcoensis, a species endemic to, but widely distributed within, the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) region. The loci were tested in 30 individuals from the Colombian Pacific and were highly polymorphic. The mean...

There is increased interest in understanding how stress reduces coral resistance to disturbances and how acclimatization increases the ability of corals to resist future stress. Most extreme low tides at Gorgona Island, which expose reef flats to air, do not appear to negatively affect corals because corals usually do not undergo lethal bleaching d...

We report the occurrence of a major corallivore, the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci, on the coral reefs of Gorgona Island, Tropical Eastern Pacific. Three individuals were sighted on opposite sides of the island, while they fed on small coral colonies of Pavona varians and Pocillopora damicornis. These sightings are noteworthy in light...

We report the occurrence of a major corallivore, the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Acanthaster planci, on the coral reefs of Gorgona Island, Tropical Eastern Pacific. Three individuals were sighted on opposite sides of the island, where they fed on small coral colonies of Pavona varians and Pocillopora damicornis. These sightings are noteworthy in light...

The extinction risk assessment process of Colombian marine fishes and the development of the Red Book of Marine Fishes of Colombia was a process developed in two by the Squalus Foundation carried out the assessment of sharks, rays, and chimaeras (chondrichthyan fishes); subsequently, Invemar started the same process with bony fishes. Following the...

Fish assemblages can vary across temporal and spatial scales due to changes in habitat structure and the influence of local factors such as wave exposure, depth and anthropogenic influence. This study presents a description of species richness, functional richness, density and biomass of fish assemblages of Malpelo Island, a Marine Protected Area l...

The eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) is an isolated oceanic region exposed to extreme oceanographic conditions, including low salinity, low pH, high temperatures during El Niño, and low temperatures during La Niña and seasonal upwelling. The coral reefs in this region have a relatively limited suite of species compared to other coral reef areas of th...

Las exposiciones aéreas por mareas bajas extremas y la sedimentación son perturbaciones naturales que pueden afectar de forma muy variable los arrecifes coralinos y en particular a los corales. A simple vista los efectos de dichas perturbaciones pueden causar desde leves blanqueamientos (Pérdida de zooxantelas) hasta blanqueamientos severos e inclu...

Blue Wall " , in San Andrés Island (Colombia), is an outer reef slope with an inclination that increases with depth to nearly 90°. Such a steep gradient facilitates the identification of patterns of variation in species abundance and diversity along depth. To document such patterns in fishes associated with this habitat, 30 visual censuses were con...

Pontinus clemensi (Pisces: Scorpaenidae) en la Isla Malpelo, Colombia: Nuevo especimen y ampliación del ámbito geográfico. Pontinus clemensi es una especie descrita con un reducido número de especímenes. En Junio de 1999, un espécimen adicional de P. clemensi fue colectado en la isla Malpelo, Colombia (3º 59' N, 81º 35' W). Este ejemplar permitió a...

El género Stegastes (familia Pomacentridae) tiene una distribución particular en el Pacífio Oriental Tropical, con dos especies ampliamente distribuidas en toda la región, y cinco especies restringidas a las islas oceánicas o al extremo boreal del trópico. Durante un estudio de las especies de este género presentes en ambientes arrecifales de la is...

“Blue Wall”, in San Andrés Island (Colombia), is an outer reef slope with an inclination that increases with depth to nearly 90°. Such a steep gradient facilitates the identification of patterns of variation in species abundance and diversity along depth. To document such patterns in fishes associated with this habitat, 30 visual censuses were cond...

El blanqueamiento coralino es asociado frecuentemente con temperaturas inusualmente cálidas, pero también puede ocurrir durante episodios de enfriamiento del agua. En esta nota registramos un evento de blanqueamiento coralino, especialmente en Porites lobata, después de las temperaturas del mar más bajas registradas para Malpelo en 21 años. En abri...

Knowing the gametic development of the coral Pocillopora damicornis and its relationship to environmental variation at La Azufrada reef (2°58′10″N and 78°11′05″W, Gorgona Island, Colombian Pacific Ocean) is essential to understanding the capacity for sexual replenishment of this population. Due to the lack of information about its sexual reproducti...

Drift logs have drawn some attention, mostly regarding their function as floating structures for long-distance dispersal of marine organisms. Although drift logs “battering” of intertidal communities has received some attention, the potential effects on coral reefs have not yet been addressed. Based on direct observations, here we describe the effe...

Porites panamensis is the scleractinian coral with the widest latitudinal distribution in the eastern tropical Pacific. Here, we report the occurrence of P. panamensis in an estuarine environment of the central Pacific coast of Colombia at the rocky reef of Los Negritos, Málaga Bay. Porites panamensis seems to withstand a wide range of environmenta...

Recently, we found what might be one of the best coral reefs on the continental shelf of Colombia in terms of coral cover (up to 80 %) and dominated by Orbicella spp. (Fig. 1). The total extension of this formation is close to 1 km2. A well-developed coral reef in such a highly degraded environment is contrary to expectations. With massive coral co...

Colombian Caribbean reefs have deteriorated significantly over the last three decades. Coral recruitment is an important demographic process that determines the replenishment of populations and the natural potential for recovery of reef ecosystems after perturbations. We studied the composition and abundance of juvenile corals on a fringing reef (L...

This study examined the effects of the Guineafowl pufferfish (Arothron meleagris), a major corallivore in the Eastern Pacific, on pocilloporid corals on a reef at Gorgona Island, Colombia. Pufferfish occurred at a density of 171.2 individuals ha-1 and fed at a rate of 1.8 bites min-1, which produced a standing bite density of 366.2 bites m-2. We es...

We examined the age and growth of Urotrygon rogersi on the Colombian coast of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean by directly estimating age using vertebral centra. We verified annual deposition of growth increments with marginal increment analysis. Eight growth curves were fitted to four data sets defined on the basis of the reproductive cycle (una...

Varias especies de animales marinos establecen temporalmente asociaciones de caza interespecíficas, en las cuales especies oportunistas siguen a otras especies llamadas nucleares mientras estas buscan alimento pues disturban el substrato. Este tipo de comportamiento ha sido observado entre algunas especies de peces arrecifales en la isla Malpelo...

Gorgona Island, the major insular area in the Colombian Pacific Ocean, is characterized by a remarkably high biological and ecosystem diversity for this area of the world. Coral reefs are well developed and their fish communities have been described using conventional visual surveys. These methods, however, are known to be biased towards detecting...

Habitat colonization is a fundamental process in marine population dinamics and community ecology. Marine invertebrate colonization of artificial hard substrates and its spatial variation was studied over the course of one year at La Azufrada coral reef, Gorgona Island, Colombia. Five sets of artificial plates (terracotta and ceramic) were deployed...

The ecology of tidepool fishes has been extensively investigated worldwide over the past 40 years. As in many other ecological fields, studies in temperate zones outnumber studies carried out in tropical areas. Here, we document the short-term spatio-temporal variation of a tidepool fish assemblage from the tropical Eastern Pacific (Gorgona Island,...

Reefscape architecture, shaped by dominant coral morphologies, can play a major role in determining the structure and composition of fish assemblages by affecting niche and resource availability and mediating interspecific interactions. To explore the role of dominant coral morphologies on reef fish communities, we carried out a comparative study o...

Our objective was to explore the spatial distribution patterns of amphibian species richness in Antioquia, as model for the tropical Andes, and determine how annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, and elevation range influence it; and to briefly compare local and global regression models for estimating the relation between environmental var...

Se hacen cuatro nuevos registros de especies en isla Gorgona, Pacífico colombiano: dos gobios (Gobulus crescentalis y Chriolepis cuneata) y un pez pipa (Cosmocampus arctus), colectados con anestésico en pequeñas colonias de coral aisladas; y un pez globo (Canthigaster janthinoptera) observado y fotografiado. Este estudio extiende el ámbito de distr...

We report an atypical morphology in a species of the scleractinian coral genus Pocillopora from Malpelo Island, Colombian Pacific Ocean

Coral bleaching is often associated with unusually warm temperatures, but it can also occur during cold water episodes. In this note we report a coral bleaching event, mostly of Porites lobata, following the lowest temperatures recorded at Malpelo Island in 21 years. In April 2009 coral bleaching was observed in four of ten coral species occurring...

El género Stegastes (familia Pomacentridae) tiene una distribución particular en el Pacífico Oriental Tropical, con dos especies ampliamente distribuidas en toda la región, y cinco especies restringidas a las islas oceánicas o al extremo boreal del trópico. Durante un estudio de las especies de este género presentes en ambientes arrecifales de la i...

Visual censuses on belt transects implemented to assess reef fish populations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) vary greatly in the size of sampling units and census protocols. To examine the effects of such variation on estimates of species richness and density, and to help identify an appropriate (accurate, precise and efficient) protocol, we...

Scheme for classification of species to functional feeding groups. (0.05 MB DOC)

Fit of linear, polynomial, exponential, and power models to the relationship between standing biomass as the dependent variable and functional richness as the independent variable. (0.06 MB DOC)

Data used to establish the link between energy consumption and body mass in fishes. (0.25 MB DOC)

Effect of the number of individuals on the relationship between diversity and standing biomass. (0.14 MB DOC)

Standing biomass as a surrogate of ecosystem processes. (1.25 MB DOC)

Interpretation of the significant interaction between human density and biodiversity. (0.07 MB DOC)

Changes in standing biomass along gradients of human density and biodiversity. (0.27 MB DOC)

Patterns of standing biomass and species and functional richness in coral reef fishes. (0.13 MB DOC)

Description of the assembled database. (0.05 MB DOC)

Data used to establish the link between biomass production and body mass in fishes. (0.10 MB DOC)

Sources of data. (0.07 MB DOC)

Author Summary The increasing intensity of human disturbance worldwide is triggering unprecedented biodiversity losses, which is raising concerns over whether ecosystems will work and continue delivering goods and services to humanity. In contrast to previous experimental studies, which describe saturating relationships between ecosystem functionin...

Aim: To quantify general differences in reef community structure between well-enforced and poorly enforced marine protected areas (MPAs) and fished sites across the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) regional seascape. Location: The Pacific continental margin and oceanic islands of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, including World Heritage site...

Sea urchins play an important role in the process of bioerosion of hard substrates in the marine benthos. Besides contributing to the disintegration of the substrate, this process provides space for the settlement of epifauna and may increase habitat complexity. There are no previous studies on bioerosion by sea urchins in the region of Bahía Málag...

Biases associated with visual censuses of reef fishes in the Eastern Tropical Pacific: implications of using single vs mixed-size transects, observer experience, and fish size estimation. Visual censuses on belt transects implemented to assess reef fish populations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) vary greatly in the size of sampling units and...

Los censos visuales en transectos de banda implementados para evaluar las poblaciones de peces arrecifales en el Pacífico Oriental Tropical (POT) varían mucho en el tamaño de las unidades de muestreo y en los protocolos de censo. Para examinar los efectos de tal variación sobre los estimativos de riqueza y densidad de especies, y contribuir a ident...

Introduction: One of the most concerning issues to modern ecology and society is the ongoing loss of biodiversity. Ecosystems are now losing species at rates only seen in previous mass extinction events (Hails, 2008; Barnosky et al., 2011) with rates of extinction between 100 and 1000 times higher than pre-human levels (Pimm et al., 1995). This los...

We report cleaning by a tripterygiid, the twin-spot triplefin blenny Lepidonectes bimaculatus at Malpelo Island, Colombian Pacific Ocean

El incremento de la diversidad desde las latitudes altas hacia el ecuador geográfico ha sido reconocido como uno de los patrones generales de la biodiversidad. En este trabajo se evaluó el patrón global de riqueza de mamíferos marinos odontocetos no migratorios. Adicionalmente se sometió a prueba la hipótesisn de energía-riqueza de especies, utiliz...

El incremento de la diversidad desde las latitudes altas hacia el ecuador geográfico ha sido reconocido como uno de los patrones generales de la biodiversidad. En este trabajo se evaluó el patrón global de riqueza de mamíferos marinos odontocetos no migratorios. Adicionalmente se sometió a prueba la hipótesis de energía-riqueza de especies, utiliza...

This paper provides an analysis of the distribution patterns of marine biodiversity and summarizes the major activities of the Census of Marine Life program in the Caribbean region. The coastal Caribbean region is a large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, but including other environments, such as sandy...

Diversity, state of knowledge, and expertise of all taxonomic groups within the Caribbean region. Sources of the reports: databases, scientific literature, books, field guides, technical reports. State of knowledge classified as: 5 = very well known (>80% described, identification guides <20 years old, and current taxonomic expertise); 4 = well kno...

List of zooxanthelate coral (Scleractinia) species of the Caribbean and countries by ecoregion where the species have been reported. Data compiled by Ernesto Weil, Jorge Cortés, and Carolina Bastidas. (0.03 MB XLS)

List of polychaete (Polychaeta) species of the Caribbean and countries by ecoregion where the species have been reported. Data compiled by Judith Gobin. (0.11 MB XLS)