| Resumo: |
Coral reefs are very sensitive to the increment in nitrogen concentrations and phosphorus, since these compounds propitiate the macroalgae growth, resulting in the degradation of coral reefs. With the purpose of assessing the degree of nutriphication of the coral reefs in Los Canarreos Archipelago, located in the periphery of the Gulf of Batabanó, and those located in the outer area of Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago (SCA), three samplings were executed in the reefs of Los Canarreos Archipelago (August 1999, March 2000 and August 2000). In SCA, samplings were done in May 2002 and August 2003. The parameters evaluated were nitrates + nitrite, ammonium, total nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus and total phosphorus. The nutrient contents in the reefs located in the outer border of the Gulf of Batabanó are much higher than those in the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, and to the threshold established by Lapointe et al (1992) for inorganic nitrogen (>1,0 μM/L) and inorganic phosphorus (>0,1 μM/L), so that the eutrophication processes are developed in coral reef ecosystems. The causes for the higher content of these compounds in the reefs of Los Canarreos Archipelago are related to a high anthropic activity in the Gulf of Batabanó, and also a possibly higher exchange rate of biogenic compounds between the gulf and the adjacent sea than among the different water bodies that conform the SCA and the ocean.
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