Status of Coral Reef Communities on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica: Are We Talking about Corals or Macroalgae Reefs?

Abstract

In the past decades, one of the most widely reported phenomena on Caribbean reefs is the general fall in coral cover and rise in macroalgae. Reefs with low coral cover and high macroalgal abundances are often presumed to provide poorer ecosystem functions and services. In this study, we assessed the condition of coral reefs on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica and determined how eight key ecosystem metrics varied in response to different coral and fleshy macroalgae covers. Most reefs surveyed had high fleshy macroalgae and low live coral covers, with an average (±SD) of 31 ± 28% and 14 ± 13% per site. The value of many of the ecosystem metrics estimated for coral reefs of the region appears to be lower than what has been reported for other areas in the Caribbean. We found that the rugosity, urchin density, fish richness, total fish biomass, large fish density, and the potential fishery value of the reef were higher in sites with low fleshy macroalgae covers (<10%). Our results concur with the prevailing paradigm that an increase in macroalgae abundance could reduce the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs.