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Modeling trophic flows in the wettest mangroves of the world: the case of Bahía Málaga in the Colombian Pacific coast

  • MANGROVES IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS
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Abstract

The structurally most developed Neotropical mangrove forests are found along the southern and central macrotidal Colombian Pacific coast. This extremely rainy area (>7,000 mm year−1) is sparsely populated and sustains a relatively small artisanal fishery. In this article, we present an ecosystem (trophic) model, built using Ecopath with Ecosim, containing 18 functional groups of a representative mangrove area of this coast. Similar to other mangrove ecosystem models, mangroves contribute most (96%) to total system biomass, providing the primary food source for other important compartments (e.g., crabs). However, most of the mangrove litterfall is constantly washed away by tidal currents, a possible reason for the very low mean transfer efficiencies to higher trophic levels and low biomass of epifauna and nekton found, compared with other Neotropical mangroves. Fish biomass is dominated by zoobenthivores (snappers, catfishes) and detritivores (mullets) which represent, together with mangrove cockles, the target resources of a low trophic level-based fishery. Very low salinities throughout the year may contribute to an impoverished community of primary and secondary consumers that is able to withstand but not flourish under these conditions. This mangrove ecosystem may be highly vulnerable to overexploitation according to the low energy reserve (overhead) of the system.

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Acknowledgements

Data collection has been made possible by numerous projects funded by COLCIENCIAS and the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia to the research group Ecomanglares, particularly by the project “Analysis of the trophic dynamics in two mangroves of the Colombian Pacific through the integrated use of stable isotopes and ecosystem modelling: Importance for the fishery production of the system” executed by the Universidad del Valle (CI 71008) and funded by COLCIENCIAS (Code 1106-659-44115) of the call 659 of 2014. GC-G is sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The authors thank all the students that have participated in data gathering in Bahía Málaga during the recent years. The authors also thank Katherine Ewel for sharing her thoughts on the productivity of mangroves in Micronesia. Comments by two anonymous reviewers greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Resource Management Group, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany

    Gustavo A. Castellanos-Galindo, Lotta C. Kluger & Matthias Wolff

  2. Ecomanglares, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

    Gustavo A. Castellanos-Galindo, Jaime Cantera, Natasha Valencia, Sebastian Giraldo & Enrique Peña

Authors
  1. Gustavo A. Castellanos-Galindo
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  2. Jaime Cantera
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  3. Natasha Valencia
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  4. Sebastian Giraldo
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  6. Lotta C. Kluger
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  7. Matthias Wolff
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Correspondence to Gustavo A. Castellanos-Galindo.

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Guest editors: K. W. Krauss, I. C. Feller, D. A. Friess, R. R. Lewis III / Causes and Consequences of Mangrove Ecosystem Responses to an Ever-Changing Climate

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Castellanos-Galindo, G.A., Cantera, J., Valencia, N. et al. Modeling trophic flows in the wettest mangroves of the world: the case of Bahía Málaga in the Colombian Pacific coast. Hydrobiologia 803, 13–27 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3300-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3300-6

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