Research

What makes Colombia so interesting for marine research?

 

Colombia is one of five so-called “mega-diverse countries” in the world that exhibits extraordinarily high species diversity. Although the country located between the Pacific and the Caribbean accounts for less than one percent of the Earth’s surface, it ranks among the top countries in terms of number of endemic species. Reasons for that are, besides a well-documented biodiversity in the country’s tropical rain forests, a vast marine territory in two oceans.
The promotion of marine sciences and the protection and sustainable use of marine resources are a national priority in Colombia. In particular, the loss of marine biodiversity, the increasing destruction of coastal habitats by agriculture, industry and tourism, as well as the adverse influence of global warming, has long been of concern for politicians and scientists.


Based upon this background, the CEMarin aims at conducting cutting edge research in marine sciences.

 

Main CEMarin research sites

Three main research sites with similar characteristics (large rivers, estuaries, mangrove forests, coral reefs) have been selected, enabling comparative research:

  • Santa Marta (Caribbean)
  • Gulf of Urabá (Caribbean)
  • Bahía Malaga (Pacific)
     

Four main research topics

(I) Biodiversity and ecosystem function of coastal environments

  • Assessing historical environmental changes (sediment cores, stable isotopes in fossils ...)
  • Effects of environmental change on biodiversity and community structure
  • Interactions between organisms and the physical environment (land-sea transport of organic compounds, nutrient cycling ...)

Mangrove forest in the Gulf of Urabá

(II) Sustainable coastal development and pollution control

  • Pollution effects on main food webs
  • Ecosystem modeling
  • Coastal monitoring
  • Ecosystem restoration
  • Social impact of environmental changes
     

Housings in the Gulf of Urabá

(III) Range dynamics and live history of key coastal species

  • Environmental changes and evolution
  • Larval recruitment and environmental changes
  • Range dynamics in vulnerable species
  • Bioinvasions
     

The Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans), a new invasive species in the Caribbean

(IV) Coastal ecosystem bio-resources

  • Coral reef bio-technology
  • Marine natural products
  • Marine microbiology
  • Mariculture
     

Coral mariculture at the IFZ in Giessen