Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching

This case study examines the recovery of coral reefs in Costa Rica's Caño Island Biological Reserve and Cocos Island National Park following severe bleaching events caused by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warming and phytoplankton blooms.

• The 1982-83 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event caused unprecedented mass mortality and widespread bleaching across eastern Pacific reefs. Initial scientific predictions suggested that the recovery of the reefs’ framework would take centuries and live coral cover would take decades, a scenario compounded by low rates of sexual reproduction in eastern Pacific corals.
• The Caño Island Biological Reserve saw a 50-percent decline in live coral cover during the 1982-83 ENSO, with further setbacks from subsequent ENSO events and severe phytoplankton blooms. However, the reef is currently recovering its live coral cover through the recolonization of the same coral species.
• Cocos Island National Park experienced a 90 percent loss of live coral cover during the 1982-83 ENSO. Recovery has been significant, with live coral cover increasing from approximately 3 percent in the 1980s to 23 percent in 2002, and one specific reef exceeding 58 percent.
• The recovery of reefs in both the Caño Island Biological Reserve and Cocos Island National Park is attributed to their status as protected no-take zones. Cocos Island has shown a higher rate of recovery than Caño Island due to lower human influence, suggesting that mitigating localized human threats increases reef resilience against climate change.

APA

Cortés, J., & Guzmán, H. M. (n.d.). Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/research/reefs-risk-revisited/costa-rica-reef-life-after-bleaching

Chicago

Cortés, Jorge, and Héctor M. Guzmán. Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching. World Resources Institute, n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/reefs-risk-revisited/costa-rica-reef-life-after-bleaching.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cortés |first1=Jorge |last2=Guzmán |first2=Héctor M. |title=Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching |publisher=World Resources Institute |url=https://www.wri.org/research/reefs-risk-revisited/costa-rica-reef-life-after-bleaching |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cortsndcosta, author = {Cortés, Jorge and Guzmán, Héctor M.}, title = {{Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/reefs-risk-revisited/costa-rica-reef-life-after-bleaching}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }