Open AccessENFERMEDADES CORALINAS Y SU INVESTIGACIÓN EN LOS ARRECIFES COLOMBIANOS
Author(s) -
Diego L. Gil-Agudelo,
Raúl Navas-Camacho,
Alberto Rodríguez-Ramírez,
María Catalina Reyes-Nivia,
Sonia Bejarano,
Jaime Garzón-Ferreira,
Garriet W. Smith
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
boletin de investigaciones marinas y costeras/boletín de investigaciones marinas y costeras
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.177
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 2590-4671
pISSN - 0122-9761
DOI - 10.25268/bimc.invemar.2009.38.2.178
Subject(s) - coral reef , reef , geography , coral bleaching , coral , compendium , environmental issues with coral reefs , coral reef organizations , ecosystem , coral reef protection , atoll , outbreak , aquaculture of coral , ecology , biology , archaeology , virology
Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful and important ecosystems in the planet. These ecosystems have existed for over 200 million years and have survived extreme episodes such as glaciations and mass extinctions during their history. Nonetheless, during the last three decades, these ecosystems have registered sudden and dramatic changes that, according to some researchers, endanger their survival and persistence. One of the major problems coral reefs are facing nowadays is the outbreak of diseases that affect corals, which constitute the basic unit of this ecosystem. There is no consensus regarding whether these disease outbreaks are recent episodes; but what seems to be true is that some of these diseases have favored unprecedented changes in coral reefs. Coral reefs in Colombia have also been affected by disease events, and since the 1980´s, several coral diseases have been observed and studied, and even one of them was "rst described in Colombian reefs. This work presents a compendium of the main coral diseases registered around the world and is meant to serve as a guide for new studies in this topic. Similarly, a summary of coral disease research carried out in Colombia is presented as well as a discussion on current perspectives for the study of this "eld in the country.