Abstract

San Andres is an oceanic island in the Western Caribbean, and economic center of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providence, and Santa Catalina, Colombia, Seaflower Biosphere Reserve (BR) (UNESCO, 2000). The BR protects 65,000 km2 of marine territory through the Seaflower Marine Protected Area (MPA), with San Andres in the southern section. It is a 27 km2 coral island with a 7 km2 semi-circular barrier reef, with fringing, patch, and lagoon reefs. Like other shallow reefs in the Caribbean, the condition of San Andres reefs has declined over the past fifty years. Previously dominant species such as the elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) are now threatened, and reef communities have shifted. Coral reefs’ long-term monitoring within the MPAs provide critical data on the effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors, and the effectiveness of conservation measures taking place within these areas. To date, its uncertain whether the observed benefits of MPAs are sufficient to offset coral losses from major disease outbreaks and bleaching events, both of which are predicted to increase with climate change. To better understand these dynamics, A. palmata population trends over time were evaluated within the Seaflower MPA in San Andres Island. Long-term monitoring (1992 to 2024) revealed significant population declines, high impacts were recorded after hurricanes ETA and IOTA, with mass mortality following bleaching events in 2023. Our results suggests that MPAs alone may not be enough to mitigate thermal stress causing bleaching, hence not achieving conservation goals. This information is important for future management and conservation of coral reefs.

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