Fluvial fluxes into the Caribbean Sea and their impact on coastal ecosystems: The Magdalena River, Colombia

Abstract

The Magdalena, a world-class river, in the top ten in terms of sediment load ∼ 150 MT/yr, is the largest river discharging directly into the Caribbean Sea. Data on water discharge, sediment load, and dissolved load of the Magdalena River is presented as an initial interpretation of coastal ecosystems changes in relation to water discharge and sediment load from the Magdalena. During the 1972–1998 yr-period, the Magdalena River has delivered approximately 4022 MT of sediment to the Caribbean coast. The river reflects high inter-annual variability and delivers large portions of its fluvial discharge and sediment loads in short periods of time. The analysis of annual deviations from the 27-yr mean sediment load indicates that 59% of the total sediment load variability of the Magdalena at Calamar could be attributed to flashy peak events. Further analyses of sediment load anomalies suggest that there was a high discharge period in the Magdalena River between 1985 and 1995 and another one in the Canal del Dique between 1985 and 1992. These increasing trends in sediment load coincide with the overall decline of live coral cover around the Rosario Islands, a 145 km 2 coral reef complex in the Caribbean Sea that constitutes a marine protected area. The comparison of live coral: algae ratios for the 1983–2004 yr-period, also indicates that there has been an associated increase in the percentage of algae cover (i.e., Grande Island 1983 = 5%, 2004 = 59%). Other analyses show that nearly 850 ha of seagrass existing in the Cartagena Bay in the 1930s, only 76 ha remained in 2001, which is less than 8% of the original cover. There has been a mix of multiple stressors (natural and anthropogenic; local, regional and global; temporal and chronic) affecting the coastal ecosystems in the area, but the effect of the Magdalena River runoff has been constant and very prolonged (several decades). The impacts of heavy sediment loads and freshwater discharges from the Canal del Dique to Cartagena Bay have greatly contributed to the partial disappearance of coral formations and also to a considerable reduction in abundance of seagrass beds in the bay and neighboring areas.