Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs in the Northern Caribbean and Western Atlantic
Dominican Republic
The eastern part (48,500km 2 ) of the high island of Hispaniola is mountainous, and large
rivers drain extensive watersheds, limiting reef growth with freshwater and sediments. Only
27% of the 1,400km shore (average shelf width 8km) is fringed by mangroves and only 12%
by coral reefs. Important reef areas on the north (Atlantic) coast include the Montecristi
barrier reef in the north-west (where the shelf is widest), narrow high-energy reefs in the
central region and the Bávaro-El Macao-Punta Cana barrier reef system at the eastern end.
North of that, Samaná Bay receives many rivers and is the largest estuary of the insular
Caribbean: reefs in the vicinity are poorly developed, but the Navidad Shoals and Silver
Banks reef systems are about 100km to the north. To the south, on the Caribbean coast, are
the well-studied reefs of Parque Nacional del Este and the adjacent Isla Saona. Westward
past Isla Catalina to beyond Santo Domingo are uplifted carbonate terraces with reefs
growing on narrow platforms e.g. Boca Chica and the Parque Nacional Submarino de
Caleta. Conditions are not good for reefs in the south-west, except on the shallow
sheltered shelf east of Cabo Beata at Parque Nacional Jaragua.
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