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Human Influences On Eastern Tropical Pacific Coral Communities and Coral Reefs

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Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Part of the book series: Coral Reefs of the World ((CORW,volume 8))

Abstract

Coral reefs world-wide have been impacted by direct and indirect human activity and natural disturbances. This has led to the degradation and disappearance of many reef structures. On a basin-wide scale, the natural impact of El Niño warming has been the main cause of reef decline in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP). At local scales, human activity has also taken its toll although only limited observations are available on specific impacts to ETP coral reefs. The main direct causes of damage are the extraction of corals and other reef organisms, nonregulated tourist activity, ship groundings, anchor damage, and eutrophication. The main indirect sources of damage to coral reefs are coastal alteration, sedimentation, pollution (including eutrophication), oil pollution, agrochemicals, other pollutants, and plankton blooms. Climate change can impact coral reefs directly (sea warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification, increased storm activity, and possibly stronger and more frequent El Niño events), and indirectly (coastal erosion, increased fresh water runoff and elevated nutrients). Even though human impacts on ETP reefs are low compared to other regions, significant damage has been documented. Since ETP coral reefs are relatively small and few in number, a redoubled effort is necessary for their protection.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Peter W. Glynn, Derek Manzello and Ian C. Enochs for the opportunity to contribute this chapter on human impacts to the ETP book, and Bernhard Riegl for his critical review. JC thanks Enrique Barraza for his insights and relevant publications for El Salvador. We are also grateful for the detailed reviews of James Hendee, Peter W. Glynn and an anonymous reviewer. Finally, Ben Grassian greatly improved the quality of the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica

    Jorge Cortés

  2. Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica

    Jorge Cortés

  3. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Departamento Académico de Biología Marina, Carretera al Sur Km 5.5, Col. El Mezquitito, 23080, La Paz, BCS, Mexico

    Héctor Reyes-Bonilla

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  1. Jorge Cortés
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  2. Héctor Reyes-Bonilla
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Correspondence to Jorge Cortés .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RSMAS MBE, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Peter W. Glynn

  2. NOAA/AOML, Miami, Florida, USA

    Derek P. Manzello

  3. RSMAS CIMAS - NOAA/AOML, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ian C. Enochs

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Cortés, J., Reyes-Bonilla, H. (2017). Human Influences On Eastern Tropical Pacific Coral Communities and Coral Reefs. In: Glynn, P., Manzello, D., Enochs, I. (eds) Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7499-4_20

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