SIMAC: Development and implementation of a coral reef monitoring
Contents
1. n ERFEN 12 22 24 Prahl H von 1986 Corales y arrecifes coralinos p 59 87 In H von Prahl amp M Alberico eds Isla Gorgona Biblioteca Banco Popular Textos Universitarios Bogot Colombia Prahl H von amp H Erhardt 1985 Colombia corales y arre cifes coralinos FEN Bogot Colombia Ramirez A D Miranda G Vi a 1994 Estructura arrecifal del archipi lago de San Bernardo Mar Cari be Colombia estudio de linea base Trianea Acta Cient Tecn Inderena 5 189 219 Reyes Nivia M C J Garz n Ferreira amp A Rodriguez Ramirez 2004 Depredaci n de coral vivo por peces en las bah as de Chengue y Gayraca Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona Caribe colombiano Rev Biol Trop 52 883 895 Rodr guez Ram rez A amp J Garz n Ferreira 2003 Moni toreo de arrecifes coralinos pastos marinos y man glares en la Bah a de Chengue Caribe colombiano Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 79 1993 1999 INVEMAR Serie de Publicaciones Espe ciales No 8 Santa Marta Colombia Rodr guez Ram rez A J Garz n Ferreira S Bejarano Chavarro R Navas Camacho C Reyes Nivia G Duque C Orozco F Zapata amp O Herrera 2005 Estado de los arrecifes coralinos en Colombia en el afio 2004 p 77 114 In INVEMAR ed Informe del estado de los ambientes marinos y costeros en Colombia A o 2004 INVEMAR Serie de Publica ciones Periddic2. n Ferreira 1999 These meth ods were reviewed during a second workshop held in November 1999 by 18 participants who examined the experience of the first year of monitoring and agreed on some minor changes to adjust the SIMAC protocols Subsequently a methods manual for SIMAC that describes the details of the sampling protocols was prepared Garz n Ferreira et al 2002b and published through the web page of INVEMAR www invemar org co The water quality protocol Includes at least weekly measurements of surface tem perature bucket thermometer and salinity refractometer and transparency of the water column Secchi disk as well as continuous bottom temperature recording data logger In the Santa Marta area which is near our labo ratory facility we have been obtaining more information including also weekly measure ments of chlorophyll suspended solids and nutrients in surface waters as well as sedimen tation rates at the reef bottom The cover of the reef surface The cover by benthic organisms and non living bottom categories is being estimated by the chain method in at least eighteen 18 fixed transects per reef area distributed equally at two depth levels 3 6 and 9 12 m and six reef sites plots The three transects at each depth level and site are chosen haphazardly within an homogeneous area of no more than 50 by 50m but largely depending on the availability of appropriate substrata to fix the stakes tha
3. 50 a At low tide At high tide O At medium tide 72 Coral assemblage Scattered corals on rock Mixed corals and gorgonaceans Mixed corals and gorgonaceans Scattered corals on rock Mixed corals and gorgonaceans Mixed corals and gorgonaceans Montastraea spp Mixed corals Mixed corals Montastraea spp Mixed corals Mixed corals and gorgonaceans Encrusting corals on rock Encrusting corals on rock Agaricia spp Agaricia spp Mixed corals Agaricia spp Mixed corals Montastraea spp Montastraea spp Montastraea spp Montastraea spp Montastraea spp Montastraea spp Mixed corals Montastraea spp Mixed corals Siderastrea siderea Mixed corals Siderastrea siderea Mixed corals Mixed corals Siderastrea siderea Pocillopora spp Pocillopora spp Pavona spp Pocillopora spp Pocillopora spp Pocillopora spp Pocillopora spp Pavona spp Transects v w uv ww Ww ww t9 ly WwW Ww Cn Ur Un tn tA tA Un tn CA tA tA tA Un Cn CA tn tA tA ww tA ta ta tA Monitoring years 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 98 99 00 01 02 03 98 99 03 04 98 99 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 98
4. 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 02 03 04 00 02 03 04 02 03 04 00 02 03 04 02 03 04 00 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 98 99 01 02 03 04 02 03 04 02 03 04 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 sites CH S 1 is located adjacent to the rocky shore and has a very complex coral commu nity which 1s composed principally by large boulders of Montastraea faveolata and skeletal remains of Acropora palmata very few live colonies The other shallow site CH S 2 is very similar but has more living branches of A palmata large colonies of Siderastrea siderea and a higher coral cover The mid depth sites are composed by medium sized colonies of diverse coral species on gently reef slopes Coral communities on the deep reef sites are located near the lower end of the reef slopes and are dominated by encrusting colonies of Montastraea cavernosa and Diploria strigosa New monitoring reef sites have been added by SIMAC in TAY since 2003 but descriptions from these new sites are not presented in this paper Santa Marta SMA Is another small bay in the Santa Marta area see general description of this area in previous paragraph about TAY SMA is located adjacent to the port city of Santa Marta that has about 40
5. Islands and one in the Pacific Gor gona Island Fig 1 Afterwards more monitoring stations have been added progressively with the col laboration of additional institutions MAVDT UNEP RCU CAR Universidad de Antioquia so that in 2003 the SIMAC network reached more than twice its initial size covering ten reef areas seven in the Caribbean and three in the Pacific 63 reef sites and 263 permanent transects The additional areas are Providencia Island San Bernardo Islands and Urab area in the Caribbean and Utr a Bay and Malpelo Island in the Pacific Fig 1 SIMAC monitor ing continued without interruption until 2008 and should continue indefinitely as the system is considered one of the long term strate gic projects at INVEMAR with regular sup port from the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia The organizational structure of SIMAC is similar to that of CARICOMP Fig 2 There is a National Coordinating Institution NCI which is in charge of the program management and the negotiation of the Memorandum of Understanding MOU with the Local Coordi nating Institutions LCI Currently the NCI is INVEMAR which was selected by the LCIs since the beginning of the program and was ratified during the first annual Assembly in 2004 The MOU specifies the responsibility of each institution to the network including the nomination of a Site Director A LCI is responsible for getting support and implement ing the SIMAC pr
6. Rodr guez Ram rez 2002b Manual de m todos del SIMAC Sis tema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecifes Coralinos en Colombia Project Report INVEMAR Santa Marta Colombia Garz n Ferreira J J Cort s A Croquer H Guzm n Z Leao amp A Rodr guez Ram rez 2004 Southern Tro pical America Coral reef status and consolidation as GCRMN regional node p 509 522 In C Wilkinson ed Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2004 Vol 2 AIMS Townsville Australia Geister J 1992 Modern reef development and Cenozoic evolution of an oceanic island reef complex Isla de Providencia Western Caribbean Sea Colombia Facies 27 1 70 Geister J amp J M D az 1997 A field guide to the oceanic barrier reefs and atolls of the Southwes tern Caribbean Archipelago of San Andr s and Providencia Colombia Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symposium 1 235 262 Glynn P W 1990 Coral mortality and disturbances to coral reefs in the Tropical Eastern Pacific p 55 126 In P W Glynn ed Global ecological consequences of the 1982 83 El Ni o Southern oscillation Elsevier Oceanogr Ser Amsterdam The Netherlands Glynn P W H von Prahl amp F Guhl 1982 Coral reefs of Gorgona Island with special reference to corallivores and their influence on community structure and reef development An Inst Invest Mar Punta Bet n 12 185 214 Goreau T J J Cervino M Goreau R Hayes M Hayes L Richardson G Smith K DeMe
7. de San Bernardo Prahl amp Erhardt 1985 D az et al 2000 Cendales et al 2002 Nevertheless the islands are populated and tourism is very intense in the area Further more the influence of continental runoff on IRO has largely increased during recent times due to human alteration of nearby riverbeds Garz n Ferreira amp Kielman 1994 In con sequence many coral reefs around the islands are considerably damaged Six reef sites for SIMAC monitoring stations were established since 1998 in the leeward coasts of Tesoro and Pavitos islands where coral communities are in good shape The shallow site is located near the outer margin of the fore reef terrace where large coral patches composed by huge coral colonies Montastraea annularis M faveolata Diploria labyrinthiformis and Colpophyllia natans alternate with sand shoals Mid depth and deep sites in Tesoro are situated on a reef slope in front of the shallow site and are covered by large colonies of a diverse coral assemblage but dominated by M annularis M franksi and C natans In Pavitos the shallow site is located also near the outer margin of the fore reef terrace while the mid depth and deep sites are located on a very steep reef slope Dominant corals at the three sites in Pavitos are foliaceous species of Agaricia principally A tenuifolia with some massive colonies of M annularis M faveolata and M franksi many species of sponges are very abundant as wel
8. the abundance of each species by using TABLE 2 List of fish families selected for the belt transect censuses in SIMAC monitoring Scientific name Common name Acanthuridae Surgeonfishes Balistidae Leatherjackets Carangidae Jacks Chaetodontidae Butterflyfishes Haemulidae Grunts Labridae Wrasses Lutjanidae Snappers Pomacanthidae Angelfishes Pomacentridae Damselfishes Scaridae Parrotfishes Serranidae Groupers Sphyraenidae Barracudas Tetraodontidae Puffers logarithmic categories A 1 fish B 2 10fishes C 11 100fishes D gt 100fishes Each census is subdivided in two periods of 15min the first one is done by swimming away from the center of the monitoring site through its deepest mar gin and the second one by returning through the shallow level At least two RD censuses are performed in two different sectors of the reef monitoring site ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The development of the SIMAC network has been funded in great part by grants from COLCIENCIAS BID 2105 09 327 97 and the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia FONAM BID 774 OC CO INVEMAR has provided most of the required logistics and indirect costs Other institutions that have contributed substantially with funds and or logistical support are UNEP UCR CAR CR 041 94 15 2218 MT 1010 03 3 12 2234 XC 0401 94 15 2223 GCRMN CARICOMP UAESPNN CORALINA CEINER Universi dad del Valle Universidad de Antioquia and Fundacion Malpelo Numerous colleagues from INV
9. years after a mass mortality event Proc 10th Int Coral Reef Symposium 1 982 988 CARICOMP 2001 CARICOMP Methods Manual Levels 1 and 2 Manual of methods for mapping and monitoring of physical and biological parameters in the coastal zone of the Caribbean CARICOMP Data Management Center University of West Indies Jamaica CARICOMP 2003 Status and temporal trends at CARI COMP coral reef sites Proc 9th Int Coral Reef Symposium 1 325 331 Cendales M H S Zea amp J M D az 2002 Geomorfolog a y unidades ecol gicas del complejo de arrecifes de las Islas del Rosario e Isla Bar Mar Caribe Colombia Rev Acad Colomb Cien 26 497 510 Diaz J M J Garz n Ferreira amp S Zea 1995 Los arreci fes coralinos de la Isla de San Andr s estado actual y perspectivas para su conservaci n Acad Colomb Cien Exac Fis Nat Colec Jorge Alvarez Lleras 7 Bogot Colombia D az J M L M Barrios M H Cendales J Garz n Ferreira J Geister M L pez Victoria G H Ospina F Parra Velandia J Pinz n B Vargas Angel F A Zapata amp S Zea 2000a reas coralinas de Colombia INVEMAR Serie de Publicaciones Especiales No 5 Santa Marta Colombia D az J M G D az Pulido amp J A S nchez 2000b Distri bution and structure of the southernmost Caribbean coral reefs Golfo de Urab Colombia Sci Mar 64 327 336 Erhardt H amp W Meinel 1975 Die scleractinen Kora llen der Insel C
10. 0 000 inhabitants For that reason a strong degradation of coral communities observed in the bay during last decades has been related principally with pol lution both from the port and the city sewage Werding amp S nchez 1988 Descriptions of coral formations of SMA are available since the early 1970 s Antonius 1972 Erhardt amp Werd ing 1975 Zea 1993 Two reef sites have been monitored by SIMAC in SMA since 1998 both at the mid depth level One is located in front of the rocky cape of Punta Bet n PB M where coral cover has declined to about 5 and the dominant coral species are now M cavernosa D strigosa and S siderea The other reef site is adjacent to the SW end of El Morro a rocky islet that closes the bay area to the North and support healthier coral communities dominated by Meandrina meandrites D strigosa and M cavernosd Rosario Islands IRO Comprise a series of small coralline islands located in the central part of the continental Colombian Caribbean Including all associated submarine environ ments the complex takes up an area of near ly 120km in which coral patches fringing reefs barrier reefs shallow carbonate sand plains seagrass meadows and mangroves cre ate an intricate mosaic Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2003 The reefs at these islands show the greatest development in the Northern coast of Colombia and are included within the natural park Parque Nacional Natural Corales del Rosario y
11. 2 66 81 43 57 9 12 12 30 47 8 81 43 57 8 16 18 12 30 1 5 81 44 0 0 5 7 12 30 3 6 81 44 192 0 11 12 12 30 5 2 81 44 3 0 16 18 11 19 32 2 74 T 42 1 3 5 11 19 32 2 74 T 42 1 9 10 11 19 32 2 74 T 42 1 15 16 11 19 47 5 74 T 43 3 6 11 19 47 5 74 T 43 9 11 11 19 47 5 74 7 43 15 17 11 14 59 6 74 13 15 2 0 8 11 11 1 56 5 74 13 54 7 10 13 10 10 29 5 75 46 14 3 5 6 10 10 29 5 75 46 14 3 9 12 10 10 29 5 75 46 14 3 16 18 10 14 3 1 75 44 47 2 5 6 10 14 3 1 75 44 47 2 9 12 10 14 3 1 75 44 47 2 16 19 9 46 38 7 75 4T 7 4 5 6 9 46 46 75 47 8 0 9 12 9 42 19 9 75 51 58 1 4 5 9 42 21 75 5P 57 9 10 9 47 26 1 75 55 24 2 6 7 9 49 19 75 53 27 9 10 8 38 20 4 77 20 40 8 1 2 8 38 31 4 77 20 10 5 11 12 8 40 13 5 77 21 31 2 2 3 8 40 19 8 77 21 24 10 13 8 39 43 7 77 21 31 4 9 11 8 37 0 2 77 19 36 7 1 2 PACIFIC 2 57 30 6 78 10 41 20 2 57 30 6 78 10 41 49 2 57 22 5 78 10 50 1 3 2 57 22 5 78 10 50 1 5 2 56 25 5 78 11 35 1 30 2 56 26 7 78 11 26 1
12. 80 May 2010 71 Reef site or plot San Andr s Island Wildlife shallow Wildlife mid depth Wildlife deep Iguana shallow Iguana mid depth Iguana deep Tayrona Natural Park Chengue shallow Chengue mid depth 1 Chengue deep 1 Chengue shallow 2 Chengue mid depth 2 Chengue deep 2 Santa Marta Bay Punta Betin mid depth El Morro mid depth Rosario Islands Pavitos shallow Pavitos mid depth Pavitos deep Tesoro shallow Tesoro mid depth Tesoro deep San Bernardo Islands Mangle shallow Mangle mid depth Ceycen shallow Ceycen mid depth Minalta shallow Tiosolda mid depth Urab Area Capurgana shallow Capurgan mid depth Cabo Tiburon shallow Cabo Tiburon mid depth Sapzurro mid depth Aguacate shallow Gorgona Island Azufrada shallow Azufrada mid depth 1 Azufrada shallow 2 Azufrada mid depth 2 Playa Blanca shallow Playa Blanca mid depth Code WL S WL M WL D G S G M G D H S 1 H M 1 H D 1 H S 2 H M 2 H D 2 aaQqaaaa PB M MO M PA S PA M PA D TE S TE M TE D MA S MA M CE S CE M MI S TI M CA S CA M CB S CB M ZA M AG S AZ S 1 AZ M 1 AZ S 2 AZ M 2 PBL S PBL M TABLE 1 Geographic location depth range in meters type of coral assemblage sensu Diaz et al 2000a number of transects and monitoring years of each monitoring reef site in seven SIMAC coral reef areas of Colombia Coordinates N W Depth m CARIBBEAN 12 30 47 28 81 43 52 44 4 5 12 30 4
13. EMAR and other institutions have par ticipated directly in the big task of monitoring Colombian reefs S Bejarano C Boh rquez O Caucali L Chasqui E Chiquillo J M D az D L Gil M F Gil J Giraldo C G mez A M Gonz lez P Herr n M L pez Victoria S Lozano J C Mart nez C McCormick N Mej a R Navas C Orozco V Pizarro S Posada M C Reyes Nivia M Rodr guez J Rojas N Santodomingo F Zapata J Zapata and S Zea as well as many students Thanks a lot to all of them and apologies for those who were involuntarily omitted Contribution No CTBR 1042 from INVEMAR RESUMEN En respuesta al proceso de deterioro de los arrecifes coralinos colombianos en las ltimas tres d cadas y con el prop sito de establecer un sistema de vigilancia para el manejo apropiado de estos valiosos ecosistemas el Insti tuto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras INVEMAR desde 1998 ha impulsando y puesto en marcha el Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecies Coralinos en Colombia SIMAC con el apoyo de varias instituciones colombia nas El SIMAC ha operado sin interrupci n por m s de ocho a os periodo durante el cual se han establecido 63 parcelas permanentes de observaci n y 267 transectos fijos de evaluaci n en diez de las principales reas geogr ficas con arrecifes de Colombia siete en le Caribe y tres en el Pac fico Los procedimientos metodol gicos del SIMAC se hallan descritos detalladamente en el m
14. Jaime Garz n Ferreira amp Alberto Rodr guez Ram rez 1 Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras INVEMAR Punta de Betin Zona Portuaria Santa Marta Colombia SIMAC Development and implementation of a coral reef monitoring network in Colombia 1 jagrzon invemar org co betorod invemar org co Present address Brewster Academy 80 Academy Drive Wolfeboro NH 03894 anisotremus gmail com Received 31 VIII 2009 Corrected 16 X 2009 Accepted 15 XII 2009 Abstract Significant coral reef decline has been observed in Colombia during the last three decades However due to the lack of monitoring activities most of the information about health and changes was fragmentary or inadequate To develop an expanded nation wide reef monitoring program in 1998 INVEMAR Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras Colombian Institute of Marine and Coastal Research designed and implemented SIMAC Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecifes Coralinos en Colombia National Monitoring System of Coral Reefs in Colombia with the participation of other institutions By the end of 2003 the SIMAC network reached more than twice its initial size covering ten reef areas seven in the Caribbean and three in the Pacific 63 reef sites and 263 permanent transects SIMAC monitoring continued without inter ruption until 2008 and should persist in the long term The SIMAC has a large database and consists basically of water quality measurements tem
15. SIMAC team also promoted the organization of Reef Check activities during some years in Colombia and has made contributions to the Global Coral 70 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 Reef Monitoring Network GCRMN with the support of UNEP RCU CAR It coordinates a regional node of the GCRMN for the South ern Tropical America Costa Rica Panama Colombia Venezuela and Brazil and has been involved in the preparation of reports for the global assessments of coral reefs Garz n Fer reira et al 2000 2002a 2004 These and other reports as well as CARICOMP data have been submitted to the global database for coral reefs ReefBase Reef areas and monitoring sites The ten reef areas for SIMAC monitor ing Fig 1 were selected in order to include a wide representation of reef systems in Colom bian waters Those areas were chosen also by their facilities for carrying out fieldwork and their importance as tourist centers or natural reserves In this section we will provide a general description and information for six Caribbean monitoring areas and one from the Pacific which are the areas that will be con sidered forward in several papers presenting SIMAC results within this special publication Data on the geographic location depth type of coral assemblage sensu Diaz et al 2000a the number of transects and monitoring years of each monitoring reef site or plots in thes
16. anual de m to dos e incluyen cobertura del bentos arrecifal densidad de gorgon ceos prevalencia de enfermedades coralinas abundancia de invertebrados m viles selectos riqueza ictiol gica y densidad de familias selectas de peces as como algunas variables indicadoras de la calidad del agua Los resultados del SIMAC han sido circulados a trav s de reportes resumen para las agencias del gobierno y p blico en general y han apoyado iniciativas regionales y globales de monitoreo i e CARICOMP GCRMN ReefBase En este art culo se describe el desarrollo de este sistema y en otros art culos dentro de este numero especial se presentan los principales resultados del monitoreo Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 77 Palabras clave arrecifes coralinos monitoreo SIMAC GCRMN Colombia REFERENCES Antonius A 1972 Occurrence and distribution of stony corals Anthozoa and Hydrozoa in the vecinity of Santa Marta Colombia Mitt Inst Colombo Aleman Invest Cient Punta Betin 6 89 103 Arias L J 2002 Manual de usuario del SISMAC sistema de informacion y soporte para el monitoreo de arre cifes coralinos Project Report INVEMAR Santa Marta Colombia Bejarano S N Manrique Rodriguez amp Jaime Garz n Ferreira 2006 Recent partial mortality and other health conditions of the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina Linnaeus 1758 in the Santa Marta area Colombian Caribbean 15
17. as No 8 Santa Marta Colombia Rodriguez Ramirez A M C Reyes Nivia R Navas Camacho S Bejarano J Garz n Ferreira amp F Zapata 2006 Status of the coral reefs of Colombia in 2003 Proc 10th Int Coral Reef Symposium 1 976 981 Santavy D L amp E C Peters 1997 Microbial pests Coral disease in the Western Atlantic Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symposium Panama 1 607 612 Vargas Angel B 1996 Distribution and community struc ture of the reef corals of Ensenada de Utr a Pacific coast of Colombia Rev Biol Trop 44 643 651 Weil E I Urreiztieta J Garz n Ferreira amp P Gayle 2003 Geographic variabilty in the incidence of coral and octocoral diseases in the Wider Caribbean Proc 9th Int Coral Reef Symp 2 1231 1238 Wells S ed 1988 Coral Reefs of the World Volume 1 Atlantic and Eastern Pacific UNEP IUCN Gland Switzerland Werding B amp H S nchez 1988 Deterioro observado en las formaciones coralinas de la bah a de Santa Marta Colombia An Inst Inv Mar Punta Bet n 18 9 16 Werding B amp H S nchez 1989 The coral formations and their distributional patterns along a wave exposure gradient in the area of Santa Marta Colombia Medio Ambiente 10 61 68 Zapata F 2001 Formaciones coralinas de Isla Gorgona p 27 40 In L Barrios amp M L pez Victoria eds Gorgona marina contribuci n al conocimiento de una isla nica INVEMAR Serie de Publicaciones E
18. ate terrace where reef surface changes to the reef slope the mor phology and composition of the coral commu nity is similar to that of the mid deep sites but dominated by Montastraea franksi Tayrona Natural Park TAY Is part of the Santa Marta area which comprises about 80km of a basically rocky shoreline locat ed near the central sector of the continental Colombian Caribbean Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2003 Coastal topography is very complex and steep due to the proximity of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta the highest mountain system of Colombia The littoral rocky belt that extends underwater to 30m depth support poorly developed but diverse coral communi ties and fringing reefs Werding amp Sanchez 1989 Garzon Ferreira amp Diaz 2003 The area is seasonally affected by upwelling waters during dry months December March and by continental runoff during rainy season May November Chengue is a small bay in TAY where CARICOMP stations were established since 1992 Rodriguez Ramirez Garz n Ferreira 2003 The bay has no permanent human populations but is frequently visited by fishermen and divers Coral reef communi ties are poorly developed but diverse and are concentrated as fringing reefs on the leeward shores of the bay Garz n Ferreira 1998 where the six permanent reef monitoring sites have been installed One of the shallow reef Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67
19. d in 1998 on La Azufrada 74 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 fringing reef the largest coral formation of GOR This reef has at least 10 species of hard corals and is composed basically by Pocil lopora spp but also includes species of Psam mocora Pavona Porites and Gardineroseris Two other SIMAC plots were established in 2002 at Playa Blanca reef which has a coral assemblage similar to that of La Azufrada with pocilloporids dominating the shallow areas and massive corals particularly Pavona and Gardineroseris forming some clusters on the outer reef base Protocol and methods In order to design the SIMAC a 3 day workshop was held in October 1998 Garz n Ferreira 1999 The workshop was attended by 28 professionals with at least some experience in reef issues including research manage ment and education Most of the time was expended selecting the relevant parameters to be included in a basic protocol and the methodologies to measure them At the end of the workshop a proposal was agreed which was very similar to the CARICOMP protocols CARICOMP 2001 for the coral reef com munities Basically it consists of water quality measurements temperature salinity turbidity and a yearly estimation of benthic reef cover coral disease incidence gorgonian density abundance of important mobile invertebrates fish diversity and abundance of important fish species Garz
20. d query that can be accessed through internet The query system allows the examina tion of raw data but also provides some basic statistics means standard errors and graphics An Oracle tool and a manual Arias 2002 for direct data storage and query have been pro vided to the institutions in Colombia which are participating in the SIMAC program Data and results of SIMAC have been widely circulated through a summary report published annually since 2000 for the environmental management agencies and the general public in Colombia i e Garz n Fer reira amp Rodr guez Ram rez 2001 Rodr guez Ram rez et al 2005 as well as the publication of nearly 30 scientific papers i e Garz n Ferreira amp Pinz n 1999 Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2000 2003 Garz n Ferreira et al 2001 Gil Agudelo amp Garz n Ferreira 2001 Mej a Ni o amp Garzon Ferreira 2003 Rodr guez Ram rez amp Garz n Ferreira 2003 Weil et al 2003 Reyes Nivia et al 2004 and the presentation of more than 25 talks in national and international meetings i e Bejarano et al 2006 Rodr guez Ram rez et al 2006 Also SIMAC information has contributed to support regional and global reef monitoring networks and databases INVEMAR is a member of the CARICOMP network since its origin and has been able to maintain the monitoring activities in Chengue Bay without interruption during several years thanks to SIMAC assistance Linton Fisher 2004 The
21. e areas are presented in Table 1 Caribbean San Andr s Island SAI Is the main island of the oceanic archipelago of San Andr s and Providencia in the Southwestern Carib bean It has been a traditional tourist and com mercial center and supports a very high human population so that coral reefs are considerably affected at many places around the island Zea et al 1998 Reef development is significant in San Andr s and there are good descriptions about the evolution geomorphology structure and health of reefs and coral communities Geister 1992 Diaz et al 1995 Geister amp Diaz 1997 Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2003 The six reef sites for SIMAC monitoring are located in the Southern portion ofthe leeward coast where human impact is low and fringing coral com munities are well developed below six meter depth The two shallow reef sites are placed at the shore terrace where the bottom 1s basically a bare pavement with sparse and small coral colonies mainly of Siderastrea siderea Agari cia agaricites and Diploria strigosa The two mid depth reef sites are situated at the inner part of the intermediate reef terrace near the sand channel that separates this terrace from the shallow one the coral community there is more complex and compact with Montastraea annularis as the dominant coral species fol lowed by Agaricia spp M faveolata and S siderea The two deep sites are located near the outer margin of the intermedi
22. eyc n Islas San Bernardo vor der kolumbianischen Atlantikk ste Philippia 2 236 247 Erhardt H amp B Werding 1975 Los corales Anthozoa e Hydrozoa de la Bahia de Santa Marta Colombia Bol Museo Mar 7 3 50 Garzon Ferreira J 1997 Arrecifes coralinos un tesoro camino a la extinci n Colombia Ciencia y Tecno log a 15 11 19 Garz n Ferreira J 1998 Bah a de Chengue Parque Natu ral Tayrona Colombia p 115 125 n B Kjerfve ed CARICOMP Caribbean coral reef seagrass and mangrove sites UNESCO Paris France Garz n Ferreira J 1999 Primer Taller SIMAC Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecifes Coralinos en Colombia Project Report INVEMAR Santa Marta Colombia Garz n Ferreira J amp J M D az 2000 Assessing and monitoring coral reef condition in Colombia during the last decade p 51 58 n T Done amp D Lloyd eds Information management and decision support for marine biodiversity protection and human welfa re Coral reefs AIMS Townsville Australia Garz n Ferreira J amp J M D az 2003 The Caribbean coral reefs of Colombia p 275 301 In J Cort s ed Latin American coral reefs Elsevier Science B V Amsterdam The Netherlands Garz n Ferreira J amp M Kielman 1994 Extensive morta lity of corals in the Colombian Caribbean during the last two decades p 247 253 In R N Ginsburg Com piler Proc Colloquium Global Aspects Coral Reefs Health and hi
23. h is 350km off the coast and has coral communities down to 35m depth Vargas ngel 1996 Garz n Ferreira amp Pinzon 1999 Zapata amp Vargas Angel 2003 Around 60 hard coral species are known from the Caribbean and 21 from the Pacific Prahl 1985 Diaz et al 2000a Zapata amp Vargas Angel 2003 Significant coral reef decline has been observed in Colombia during the last three decades as in many reefs worldwide Reefs in the Pacific coast suffered high levels of coral 68 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 mortality after the 1983 ENSO related strong bleaching event Prahl 1985 Glynn 1990 In the Caribbean coast numerous reef areas have shown evidence of diverse perturbations like reduction of live coral cover mass mortalities of corals and other invertebrates algae prolifer ation coral diseases and overfishing especially during the eighties Garz n Ferreira amp Kiel man 1994 Garz n Ferreira 1997 However due to the lack of monitoring activities most of the information about health and changes was fragmentary or inadequate so that reef deg radation processes were not well documented and their causes poorly understood In order to assess the origins extent and progress of this degradation and to provide recommenda tions for coral reef management in Colombia the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras INVEMAR has carried out several projec
24. l San Bernardo Islands ISB Consist of eight small to medium sized islands and a series of shallow shoals that form an exten sive mosaic of coral carpets sand plains and seagrass meadows Garz n Ferreira amp Diaz Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 73 2003 The origin gross morphology and most characteristics of the coral associations are very similar to those from Rosario islands In contrast to the Rosario islands only a few studies have been carried out on the marine environment of ISB Erhardt amp Meinel 1975 Ram rez et al 1994 A comprehensive study including thematic maps and characterization of the reef structures was carried out recently by Lopez Victoria amp Diaz 2000 This work reported that the complex at ISB comprises an area of more than 250km2 of which more than 60 corresponds to bottoms with notable coral cover gt 60 extending to depths of nearly 30m Most of these coralline bottoms are included within the natural park Parque Nacional Natural Corales del Rosario y de San Bernardo Six monitoring reef sites were established by SIMAC at ISB in 2000 2002 three at the shallow level and three at the mid depth level The reef at the shallow site in Mangle MA S has an imperceptible slope and is composed principally by large mounds of M annularis and M faveloata intermingled with sand shoals while the mid depth site there MA M is more com
25. ng a Imeter PVC pipe as reference the surface holes and caves of the reef bottom are carefully examined while progressively swimming along both sides of the transect line recording every specimen present in the belt Fish communities These are being moni tored following a protocol similar to that pro posed within the AGGRA program Kramer amp Lang 2003 which includes two types of visual censuses a rover diver census RD to estimate fish species richness and a belt transect census BT to estimate abundance of selected impor tant species Fish censuses are conducted at the same general habitats and depth intervals of the reef where the permanent chain transects are installed As many as possible BT censuses are performed at each monitoring site and for each one a 30m transect line is deployed on the reef bottom while recording during 7 10min the abundance of the selected species within a belt visually estimated to be 2m wide with the aid of a 1m PVC pipe Juvenile parrot fishes and grunts lt Scm in total length are not counted Families selected for the BT censuses are those important for fisheries or significant 76 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 for the ecology of the coral reef Table 2 The RD census is conducted by swimming around for 30min searching under overhangs in caves within sponges and so on to find as many fish species as possible and estimat ing
26. on worked there intensively for six days to assess the distribu tion extent geomorphology composition and health of coral formations D az et al 2000a b Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2003 Coral com munities grow on the coastal hard substrate developing fringing reef frameworks in shel tered coves Six types of coral assemblages and 33 species of hard corals are known in URA Six monitoring reef sites were established by SIMAC in 2002 three at the shallow level and three at the mid depth level All the shallow reef sites are fringing communities located near shore and dominated by large colonies of the coral S siderea which usually grow very close to each other covering a large portion of the substrate Mid depth sites are all located on the upper part of reef slopes and covered by a mixed community of coral species including small flat to large colonies of D strigosa D labyrinthiformis M cavernosa and C natans and also abundant gorgonaceans Pacific Gorgona Island GOR Is a well pre served natural park which sustains the largest most mature and best studied coral reefs of the Colombian Pacific Glynn et al 1982 Prahl 1986 Zapata 2001 Zapata et al 2001 Zapata amp Vargas Angel 2003 Although the island is located 30km from the coast it is affected by continental run off Except for one small reef all coral formations at GOR are located on the Eastern leeward side of the island Four plots were establishe
27. ony limits are not distinguishable as in most Pacific sites disease incidence along each band is surveyed by using a 1 meter quad rant subdivided into 16 25 by 25cm squares with nylon line The quadrant is laid consecu tively along each side of the transect line and at every quadrant position the corals contained within four of the 16 sub quadrants randomly chosen are examined for coral diseases There fore incidence in this case can be expressed as the proportion of sub quadrants with diseased coral Six basic types of coral diseases Black Band White Band Yellow Band Red Band White Plague and Dark Spots and bleaching are recorded in Caribbean sites based on defi nitions provided by Santavy amp Peters 1997 Goreau et al 1998 and Garz n Ferreira et al 2001 Records of coral diseases for the Tropi cal Eastern Pacific are very scarce so there 1s no review publication with definitions for this region The abundance of important mobile invertebrates Invertebrates like lobsters conch octopuses crabs and urchins is being estimated through the examination of the same 10x2m belt transects on the sides of the fixed chain transects Nevertheless the sampling is focused on the following species of sea urchins Diadema antillarum Eucidaris tribu loides Echinometra viridis E lucunter and Lytechinus spp in the Caribbean and Diadema mexicanum Hesperocidaris asteriscus and Echinometra vanbrunti in the Pacific Usi
28. otocol in selected reef areas At present there are four LCIs that have signed a MOU with INVEMAR 1 CORALINA for San Andr s and Providencia islands 2 UAESPNN for Rosario and San Bernardo islands 3 Universidad del Valle for Gorgona Island and 4 Universidad de Antioquia for Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 69 LOCAL INSTITUTION LCI CORALINA San Andr s and Providencia islands POTENTIAL LCI LOCAL INSTITUTION LCI UNIVERSIDAD DE ANTIOQUIA Urab area NATIONAL COORDINATING INSTITUTION NCI INVEMAR POTENTIAL LCI LOCAL INSTITUTION LCI UAESPNN Rosario and San Bernardo islands POTENTIAL LCI LOCAL INSTITUTION LCI UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE Gorgona island Fig 2 Schematic model of the organizational structure of SIMAC the Urab area Nevertheless none of these institutions have been able to carry out the SIMAC protocol independently and had to receive funding and or technical support every year from the NCI The development of a database is one of the fundamental tasks that ensure that the monitoring information is useful for the sci entific community One such database was created and named SISMAC Information and Support System for Coral Reef Monitoring in Colombia which is located at INVEMAR The database is organized on an Oracle 8 1 7 platform and includes special systems for data storage an
29. oya 1978 CARICOMP 2001 2003 The chain transect technique provides a precise measure of substrate cover and its topography is effi cient for estimating the relative abundance of species in the community and facilitates mak ing comparisons with other studies Ohlhorst et al 1988 CARICOMP 2001 To ensure that the chain was laid down as exactly as possible along the same path year after year a string was tightly tied between stakes at the ends of a transect and nails were driven on dead portions of some massive coral heads when present The chain was then laid down under the string and in contact with the nails Estimates of coral disease prevalence These are being done using the same fixed transects as a reference examining every hard coral colony gt 5cm within a 2m wide band along each 10m transect A PVC Im pipe marked every 5cm is used as a reference to esti mate colony size and band width while swim ming at each side of the transect line A colony is defined as the genetically distinct tissues genet which sometimes consist of separate but adjacent tissue sections as is frequently the case with M annularis that could be identified as part of the same growth unit by similarities in skeletal morphology and tissue color Each colony is identified to species level and its sur face examined carefully to record the presence of any disease In the case of coral communities dominated by dense branching stands where coral col
30. pact located near a reef slope and dominated by M franksi P astreoides and A tenuifolia The shallow site at Ceycen CE S is situated on the top of an elongated patch reef where the coral commu nity is diverse and includes numerous living colonies of Acropora cervicornis whereas the mid depth site there CE M is near a reef slope and shows a high sedimentation and small colonies of numerous coral species The shallow site at Minalta is on a large reef terrace with imperceptible slope and elon gated coral formations alternating with sand channels supporting numerous gorgonaceans abundant algae and small to large coral colo nies of Montastraea spp Diploria spp S siderea C natans and P astreoides The mid depth site at Tiosolda is located on a moderate reef slope with mixed coral species including M cavernosa M franksi Porites porites P astreoides and S siderea as well as abundant octocorals and algae Urab area URA Is in the North western coast of the Urab Gulf near the Colombia Panam border where the foothills of Serran a del Darien form steep rocky shores that plunge to depths of 15 30m The waters of the gulf are highly influenced by terres trial runoff due principally to large amounts of sediment and freshwater discharged by the Atrato River into the Southern part of the gulf Very little information on the coral communi ties of URA was available until 1995 when a Colombian scientific expediti
31. perature salinity turbidity and a yearly estimation of benthic reef cover coral disease prevalence gorgonian density abundance of important mobile invertebrates fish diversity and abundance of important fish species A methods manual is available in the internet Data and results of SIMAC have been widely circulated through a summary report published annually since 2000 for the Colombian envi ronmental agencies and the general public as well as numerous national and international scientific papers and presentations at meetings SIMAC information has contributed to support regional and global reef monitoring networks and databases i e CARICOMP GCRMN ReefBase Rev Biol Trop 58 Suppl 1 67 80 Epub 2010 May 01 Key words coral reefs monitoring SIMAC GCRMN Colombia Colombia is the only South American country with Caribbean 1700km and Pacific 1300km coasts and coral reefs Nevertheless coral reef development is limited in Colom bia due to the scarcity of hard bottoms the dominance of sedimentary environments the presence of large rivers and the influence of upwelling waters in some areas Prahl amp Erhardt 1985 Wells 1988 Garz n Ferreira 1997 There are about 2 800km of coral reef environments within Colombian waters in the Caribbean sparsely distributed among 26 dis crete areas D az et al 2000a Garz n Ferreira amp D az 2003 These areas can be divided according to their location and ecological fea
32. speciales No 7 Santa Marta Colombia Zapata F amp B Vargas ngel 2003 Corals and coral reefs of the Pacific coast of Colombia p 419 447 In J Cort s ed Latin American Coral Reefs Elsevier Science B V Amsterdam The Netherlands Zapata F B Vargas ngel amp J Garz n Ferreira 2001 Salud y conservaci n de las comunidades coralinas p 41 50 In L Barrios amp M L pez Victoria eds Gorgona marina contribuci n al conocimiento de una isla nica INVEMAR Serie de Publicaciones Especiales No 7 Santa Marta Colombia Zea S 1993 Cover of sponges and other sessile organisms in rocky and coral reef habitats of Santa Marta Colombian Caribbean Sea Carib J Sci 29 75 88 Zea S J Geister J Garz n Ferreira amp J M D az 1998 Biotic changes in the reef complex of San Andr s Island Southwestern Caribbean Sea Colombia occurring over nearly three decades Atoll Res Bull 456 1 30 80 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010
33. story RSMAS Univ Miami USA Garz n Ferreira J amp J H Pinzon 1999 Evaluaci n r pida de estructura y salud de las formaciones coralinas de la Isla de Malpelo Pac fico colombiano Bol Invest Mar Cost 28 137 154 Garz n Ferreira J J Cort s A Croquer H Guzman Z Leao amp A Rodr guez Ram rez 2000 Status of coral reefs in Southern Tropical America Brazil Colom bia Costa Rica Panam and Venezuela p 331 348 In C Wilkinson ed Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000 AIMS Townsville Australia Garz n Ferreira J amp A Rodr guez Ram rez 2001 Estado de los arrecifes coralinos en Colombia A o 2000 p 25 36 In M Santos ed Informe del estado de los ambientes marinos y costeros en Colombia 2000 INVEMAR Serie Documentos Generales 3 Santa Marta Colombia 78 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 Garz n Ferreira J D L Gil Agudelo L M Barrios amp S Zea 2001 Stony coral diseases observed in Southwestern Caribbean reefs Hydrobiologia 460 65 69 Garz n Ferreira J J Cort s A Croquer H Guzm n Z Leao amp A Rodr guez Ram rez 2002a Status of coral reefs in Southern Tropical America in 2000 2002 Brazil Colombia Costa Rica Panam and Vene zuela p 343 360 In C Wilkinson ed Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2002 AIMS Townsville Australia Garz n Ferreira J M C Reyes Nivia amp A
34. t mark the ends of the transects In some areas that were assessed first San Andr s Chengue and Rosario there are 30 permanent transects distributed equally at three depth levels 3 6 9 12 and 16 19m and six reef sites plots The continuous line intersept transect method Loya 1978 with a chain of 15 0 17 1mm link length was used to estimate the percentage of the substrate covered by different benthic components All components were grouped in primary hard corals algae other sessile organisms or abiotic substrate and secondary categories branching massive or encrusting coral turf fleshy or encrusting algae sponges and other non coral sessile organisms rubble rock or dead coral following categories used by CARICOMP 2001 Only corals were identified to species level although difficulties in species identification were apparent mostly among the genus Pocillopora in Pacific sites and Agaricia and Mycetophyllia in Caribbean sites due to high intraspecific variability and phenotypic plasticity The percentage of the different substrate categories covering each transect was estimated as the number of chain links in contact or above a given substrate type relative to the total number of links in a Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 75 transect Each transect was considered a sam pling unit and was 10m long following standard methodology in coral community studies L
35. ts during the last decade to develop a long term national reef monitoring program In this introductory paper we will show how we have organized and continue to operate this program and describe the basic SIMAC pro tocols and monitoring sites that are referred to in several subsequent papers about Colombian reefs within this issue The origin and development of SIMAC In Colombia reef monitoring began towards the end of 1992 when INVEMAR joined the CARICOMP Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity program and implement ed a permanent monitoring site in Chengue Bay on the Caribbean coast Since then water qual ity and bottom community measurements have been done without interruption at two coral stations but also on seagrass and mangrove sta tions Garz n Ferreira 1999 Rodr guez Ram r ez amp Garz n Ferreira 2003 Linton amp Fisher 2004 Based on the experience gained with CARICOMP and with the purpose of develop ing an expanded nation wide reef monitoring program in 1998 INVEMAR designed and implemented SIMAC Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecifes Coralinos en Colom bia with the support of COLCIENCIAS and several other Colombian institutions COR ALINA UAESPNN CEINER Universidad del Valle and Universidad Nacional Dur ing this first stage the SIMAC installed and assessed monitoring stations at four coralline areas in the Caribbean San Andr s Island Santa Marta Bay Tayrona Natural Park and Rosario
36. tures in three main regions a the mainland coast with fringing reefs along metamorphic or volcanic rocky shores such as the Santa Marta and Urab areas b reefs growing on the con tinental shelf around offshore islands such as the Rosario and San Bernardo archipelagos and c the oceanic reef complexes of the San Andr s Archipelago in the Western Carib bean Fig 1 The latter are the best developed coral formations including atolls banks bar rier reefs fringing reefs and patch reefs and account for more than 75 of the coral reefs areas in Colombia D az et al 2000a Reef development along the Pacific coast of Colom bia is in contrast insignificant Gorgona Island being the only place exhibiting extensive coral formations Glynn et al 1982 Zapata 2001 Rev Biol Trop Int J Trop Biol ISSN 0034 7744 Vol 58 Suppl 1 67 80 May 2010 67 SN E COSTA RICA q N Pacific Ocean A _ 80 0 0 W x ECUADOR VENEZUELA COLOMBIA 0 50100 200 300 400 Kilometers Fig 1 Location of SIMAC monitoring reef areas in the Caribbean and Pacific territories of Colombia 1 Tayrona Natural Park 2 Santa Marta bay 3 Rosario islands 4 San Bernardo islands 5 Uraba area 6 San Andr s island 7 Providencia island 8 Gorgona island 9 Utria bay 10 Malpelo island Zapata amp Vargas ngel 2003 There are a few reef patches also in Ensenada de Utr a and the oceanic Isla de Malpelo whic
37. yer I Nagelker ken J Garz n Ferreira D Gil G Garrison E H Williams L Bunkley Williams C Quirolo K Pat terson J W Porter amp K Porter 1998 Rapid spread of diseases in Caribbean coral reefs Rev Biol Trop 46 157 171 Kramer P R amp J C Lang 2003 The Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment AGRRA protocols former version 2 2 Atoll Res Bull 496 611 624 Linton D amp T Fisher eds 2004 CARICOMP Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Program 1993 2003 Cent Mar Sci Univ West Indies Kingston Jamaica L pez Victoria M amp J M D az 2000 Morfolog a y estructuras de las formaciones coralinas del archipi lago de San Bernardo Caribe colombiano Rev Acad Colomb Cien 24 219 230 Loya Y 1978 Plotless and transect methods p 197 217 In D R Stoddart amp R F Johannes eds Coral Reefs Research Method Monogr Oceanogr Res 39 5 UNESCO Norwich England Mej a Ni o N amp J Garz n Ferreira 2003 Din mica de las interacciones alga coral en dos bah as de Santa Marta Caribe colombiano con distinto grado de influencia antropog nica Bol Invest Mar Cost 32 243 261 Ohlhorst S L W D Lidell amp R J Taylor 1988 Evaluation of reef census techniques Proc 6th Int Coral Reef Symposium 2 319 324 Prahl H von 1985 Blanqueo masivo y muerte de corales hermat picos en el Pac fico colombiano atribuidos al fen meno de El Ni o 1982 83 Bolet
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