Dr. Fernando A. Zapata

I am an evolutionary ecologist with a primary interest in marine systems, especially coral and rocky reefs, including intertidal systems. I am interested in understanding the factors and processes that determine the structure and dynamics of the populations and communities that inhabit them. Most of my studies focus on fish and corals and use both descriptive and experimental approaches, conducted across scales ranging from local to biogeographic. These include documenting local and macroecological patterns of distribution, abundance, and diversity of reef and intertidal fishes; the relationship between early life-history traits and the geographic distribution of fishes; recruitment patterns in fishes and corals; and fish-driven bioerosion on coral reefs. For two decades, I have devoted special effort to studying the dynamics of natural disturbance and recovery of coral reefs around Gorgona Island in the Colombian Pacific. I also maintain an interest in the drivers of large-scale variation in species richness, as well as the processes that affect the comprehensive documentation of regional fish faunas. I have recently begun to explore issues related to coral reef restoration and connectivity among marine fish populations.

• 1995-hoy. Profesor Titular, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.
• 2016-hoy. Miembro Correspondiente de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales.
• 2015-2019. Coordinador del Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias del Mar, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle.
• 2000-2002. Investigación post-doctoral. Departamento de Zoología y Entomología, Universidad de Pretoria, Pretoria, Sur Africa. Patrones y procesos macroecológicos en organismos terrestres y marinos con énfasis en patrones de riqueza de especies a gran escala.
• 1993-1995. Profesor Asociado, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.
• 1991-1993. Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.
• 1985-1990. Ph.D. en Ecología y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, E.U.A. Tesis: Local and regional patterns of distribution and abundance in marine reef fishes.
• 1983-1985. M.Sc. en Ecología y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, E.U.A.
• 1975-1982. B.Sc. Biología (Zoología), Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

1. 2020. Romero-Torres, M., A. Acosta, A. Palacio-Castro, E. Treml, F.A. Zapata, D. Paz-García & J. Porter. Coral Reef Resilience to Thermal Stress in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Global Change Biology 26(7):3880-3890. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15126
2. 2023. Castrillón-Cifuentes, A.L., F.A. Zapata, A. Giraldo & C. Wild. Spatiotemporal variability of oxygen concentration in coral reefs of Gorgona Island (Eastern Tropical Pacific) and its effect on the coral Pocillopora capitata. PeerJ 11:e14586 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14586
3. 2023. Dubuc, A., J.P. Quimbayo, J.J. Alvarado, T. Araya-Arce, A. Arriaga, A. Ayala-Bocos, J.J. Casas-Maldonado, L. Chasqui, J. Cortes, A. Cupul-Magaña, D. Olivier, M. Olán-González, A. González-Leiva, H. Reyes-Bonilla, F. Smith, F. Rivera, F. Rodríguez-Zaragoza, J. Rodríguez-Villalobos, J. Segovia, F.A. Zapata and S. Bejarano. Patterns of reef fish taxonomic and functional diversity in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Ecography 2023: e06536; doi: 10.1111/ecog.06536
4. 2023. En prensa. Castrillón-Cifuentes, AL. F.A. Zapata & C. Wild. Physiological responses of Pocillopora corals to upwelling events in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Frontiers in Marine Science.
5. 2023. Millán-Márquez, A.M., D. Velasco-Montoya, T. Terraneo, F. Benzoni, C. Bocanegra-Castaño & F.A. Zapata. Host-Symbiont Specificity and Environmental Associations between Pocillopora corals and the Symbiodiniaceae Community in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Submitted to Coral Reefs.
6. Castro, E. Treml, F.A. Zapata, D. Paz-García & J. Porter. Coral Reef Resilience to Thermal Stress in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Global Change Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15126
7. 2020. Ishida‐Castañeda, J., V. Pizarro, M. López‐Victoria & F.A. Zapata.  Coral reef restoration in the Eastern Tropical Pacific: Feasibility of the coral nursery approach. Restoration Ecology 28(1):22-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13047
8. 2019. Alzate, A., F. van der Plas, F.A. Zapata, D. Bonte, R.S. Etienne. Incomplete datasets obscure associations between traits affecting dispersal ability and geographic range size of reef fishes in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Ecology & Evolution 9(4):1567-1577. DOI:10.1002/ece3.4734
9. 2019. Quimbayo, J.P., M.S. Dias, M. Kulbicki, T C. Mendes, R W. Lamb, A F. Johnson, O. Aburto-Oropeza, J J. Alvarado, A A. Bocos, C.E.L. Ferreira, E. Garcia, O.J. Luiz, I. Mascareñas-Osorio, H.T. Pinheiro, F. Rodriguez-Zaragoza, E. Salas, F.A. Zapata & S.R. Floeter. Determinants of reef fish assemblages in tropical oceanic islands. Ecography 42(1):77–87. DOI:10.1111/ecog.03506.
10. 2019. Rodríguez-Moreno, M., F.A. Zapata, S. Ramírez-Calero, L. van Herwerden & K. Feldheim. Highly polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Acapulco damselfish, Stegastes acapulcoensis, and cross amplification in three congeneric species. Marine Biodiversity 49(1):481-486. DOI:10.1007/s12526-017-0761-9.
11. 2018. Muñoz, C.G., J. Jaramillo-González & F.A. Zapata. Evidence of sexually-produced coral recruitment at Gorgona Island, Eastern Tropical Pacific. Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research 47(2):97-110.
12. 2018. Lizcano-Sandoval, L.D., E. Londoño-Cruz & F.A. Zapata. Growth and survival of Pocillopora damicornis (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae) coral fragments and their potential for coral reef restoration in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Marine Biology Research. DOI: 10.1080/17451000.2018.1528011
13. 2018. López-Victoria, M. & F.A. Zapata. Coral cover decline on La Chola reef (Eastern Tropical Pacific). Bulletin of Marine and Coastal Research 47(1):107-116.
14. 2018. Quimbayo, J.P. & F.A. Zapata. Cleaning interactions by gobies on a Tropical Eastern Pacific coral reef. Journal of Fish Biology 92(4):1110-1125. DOI:10.1111/jfb.13573.
15. 2017. Pizarro, V., S.C. Rodríguez, M. López-Victoria, F.A. Zapata, S. Zea, C.T. Galindo-Martínez, R. Iglesias-Prieto, J. Pollock & M. Medina. Unraveling the structure and composition of Varadero Reef, an improbable and imperiled coral reef in the Colombian Caribbean. PeerJ 5:e4119; DOI:10.7717/peerj.4119.
16. 2017. Zapata, F.A. Temporal dynamics of coral and algal cover and their drivers on a coral reef of Gorgona Island, Colombia (Eastern Tropical Pacific). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 41(160):298-310. DOI:10.18257/raccefyn.486
17. 2017. Zapata, F.A., M.M. Palacios, V. Zambrano & M. Rodríguez-Moreno. Filling the gaps: first record of the Crown-of-thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci (Linnaeus, 1758) (Spinulosida: Acanthasteridae), at Gorgona Island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific. Check List 13(3):2112. DOI:10.15560/13.3.2112.
18. 2017. Castrillón-Cifuentes, A.L., D.F. Lozano-Cortés & F.A. Zapata. Effect of short-term subaerial exposure on the cauliflower coral, Pocillopora damicornis, during a simulated extreme low-tide event. Coral Reefs 36(2):401-414. DOI:10.1007/s00338-017-1552-2.
19. 2017. Quimbayo, J.P., T.C. Mendes, M. Kulbicki, S.R. Floeter & F.A. Zapata. Unusual reef fish biomass and functional richness at Malpelo, a remote island in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Environmental Biology of Fishes 100:149-162. DOI:10.1007/s10641-016-0557-y.