Epibionts on Caribbean mangrove roots from Morrocoy National Park and La Restinga Lagoon National Park, Venezuela

Fringe mangrove forests from two marine reserves separated by 436 km along the Venezuelan coast were evaluated: Morrocoy National Park (MNP), western Venezuela; and La Restinga National Park (LRNP), eastern Venezuela. These marine reserves are in areas with different oceanographic and meteorological characteristics. MNP stretches over 177 km2 of mainland marine habitats with coral reefs, biogenic sandy bottoms, seagrass beds and mangroves cays, of which 28 km2 are occupied by mangroves surrounding a system of interconnected lagoons with oligotrophic waters. This marine reserve is open to the sea through several channels, but is also affected by freshwater inflow during seasonal rainfall and anthropogenic. On the other hand, LRNP is an insular complex of hypersaline and eutrophic lagoons surrounded by well-developed mangroves that add up to an area of 30 km2. This system is connected to the sea by a single channel 1.3 km long, 70 m wide and 6 m deep, and it is not under the effects of freshwater runoff, although eventually mass mortalities have been reported as consequences of hurricane winds and increase of suspended sediments. This mangrove system does not have coral reefs or patches, and most of the area consists of muddy bottoms and marginal seagrass beds

At each park, three sectors were easily identified and sampled: external (i.e. mangrove zones in direct contact with open sea), internal (i.e. mangrove lagoons isolated from open sea, but strongly influenced by in-shore processes), and intermediate (i.e. mangrove channels and lagoons were water of external and internal sector get mixed). Within each sector, four sites, apart by 50-400 meters were randomly evaluated five times during two years. At each site, eight neighboring root were sampled. Sampling was non-destructive, and species present on each root were identified in situ using a photographic identification guide previously prepared using local inventories.

This project was partially funded by FONACIT under the grant nº 2008001851, and was authorized (PAA-272-2009) by the National Institute of Parks (INPARQUES) from República Bolivariana de Venezuela.