Cambios globales en los manglares del golfo de Urabá (Colombia) : entre la cambiante línea costera y la frontera agropecuaria en expansión

ABSTRACT: Accelerated mean sea level rise and deforestation are two global changes severely impacting mangroves along the Colombian Caribbean coast, but little has been discussed about them for the Gulf of Urabá. The objective of this review is to synthesize the published literature on such topics available to date for this area. This gulf holds extensive areas, structurally different from the rest of the Caribbean, which are shrinking and degrading as a consequence of: a) coastal erosion and sea level rise; b) selective logging and agricultural expansion; and c) watershed deforestation and sediment exports to the estuaries. The Atrato River delta, and several microdeltas located along the eastern coast have expanded, while the Rionegro Cove has remained relatively unchanged, at least during the 20th century. The eastern coast, with the smalles mangrove patches, have eroded at a rate of various meters per year due to the littoral drift currents. In the vicinity of the Turbo municipality, selective logging for different purposes has reduced the mean tree-diameter in Rhizophora mangle and has increased the importance value of Laguncularia racemosa, thus altering above ground biomass and carbon reservoirs. Agricultural expansion has been responsible for shrinking inland Avicennia germinans-stands. High deforestation rates in the coastal plains and watersheds in the banana agricultural district have increased river sediment load that has accumulated in the deltas Mangroves in these areas trap signi cant amounts of sediments, with likely negative effects on colonization and survival of seedlings and benthic macroinvertebrates. In conclusion, in the Gulf of Urabá significant global changes, both natural and anthropogenic, currently occur within the littoral zone as well as within the coastal watersheds, and they require an urgent implementation of adaptive measures within the management plans for mangrove ecosystems and the coastal zone.

• Autores: Blanco Libreros, Juan Felipe
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2016
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/10048
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10495/10048
• Palabra clave: Deforestación; Manglares; Manglares - Golfo de Urabá; Erosión; Erosión costera; Golfo de Urabá - Antioquia (Colombia); Coastal erosion; Deforestation; Mangrove swamps; Gradiente altitudinal
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Colombia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 CO)