Costa Rica: Reef Life after Bleaching

The document examines coral reef recovery in Costa Rica's Caño Island Biological Reserve and Cocos Island National Park after severe bleaching events. Despite predictions of slow recovery, both protected areas show positive signs of recolonization, with Cocos Island seeing live coral cover increase from 3% in the 1980s to 23% in 2002. The authors suggest that designating reefs as protected no-take zones reduces localized human threats and enhances resilience to climate change.

• The 1982-83 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) caused unprecedented mass mortality and widespread bleaching across eastern Pacific reefs, leading scientists to predict that live coral cover recovery would take decades and framework recovery would take centuries.
• The Caño Island Biological Reserve suffered a 50% loss in live coral cover during the 1982-83 ENSO, with further setbacks from subsequent ENSO events and phytoplankton blooms, but is currently recovering with the recolonization of the same coral species.
• Cocos Island National Park experienced a 90% loss of live coral cover during the 1982-83 ENSO, but has shown significant recovery, with live coral cover increasing from approximately 3% in the 1980s to 23% in 2002, and one specific reef exceeding 58%.
• The higher rate of recovery at Cocos Island compared to Caño Island is attributed to lower human influence, suggesting that protecting reefs as no-take zones from local human threats increases their resilience to 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} }