INVESTIGADORES
ISLA Federico Ignacio
artículos
Título:
Historical Coastal Evolution and Dune Vegetation in Isla Salamanca National Park, Colombia
Autor/es:
GOMEZ, JUAN FELIPE; BYRNE, MARY LOUISSE; HAMILTON JAMES; ISLA, F
Revista:
JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH
Editorial:
COASTAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Referencias:
Lugar: Florida; Año: 2016
ISSN:
0749-0208
Resumen:
This paper analyzes the relationship between coastal dynamics and vegetation over dunes in Isla Salamanca Road Park(ISRP), a biosphere reserve and Ramsar site located on the Colombian Caribbean coast. Historical coastline changestogether with the main geomorphological features were surveyed through fieldwork, satellite images, and historicalaerial photographs, revealing that erosion is the predominant process in the eastern and central sectors of ISRP, andaccreting trends throughout time occur in the westernmost sector of the study area. Dunes in the central and westernsectors are scarped and regularly affected by storm wave action, whereas on the western end of the study area, embryodunes are currently forming and evolving. Based on the mapped landforms and coastline trends for the last six decades,1-square-m quadrats were used to identify dune vegetation over six cross-shore transects next to stretches of coast undermoderate erosion (eastern sector), high erosion (central sector), and accretion (western sector). The vegetation diversityindex indicates that the scarped dunes in the eastern and central sectors have more diverse and mature species coverthan the embryo dunes located in the western sector. The former presents late successional species, whereas the latterare populated by pioneer vegetation species that can thrive under sand burial. These outcomes reveal the underpinningeffect that coastal dynamics and past coastal changes have in the present landscape and vegetation associations alongISRP.