A reef under siltation stress: Cahuita, Costa Rica.

The coral reef of Parque Nacional Cahuita shows low live coral coverage and species diversity and large average colony diameters. Amounts of suspended and resuspended particulate matter are very high, and a large amount of terrigenous material is trapped inside massive corals. Coral growth rates are low, and are significantly inversely correlated with sediment resuspension rates. Deforestation, which increased c15 yr ago, has probably increased the siltation stress. -from Authors