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Tolerance to air exposure: a feature driving the latitudinal distribution of two sibling kelp species

  • Camilo López-Cristoffanini , Florence Tellier , Ricardo Otaíza , Juan A. Correa and Loretto Contreras-Porcia EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 26, 2013
Botanica Marina
From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 56 Issue 5-6

Abstract

Tolerance to air exposure should be an important feature in determining the geographic distribution of seaweeds. Two sibling kelp species with contrasting latitudinal distributions were selected to test the relationship between their distribution and air exposure tolerance: Lessonia berteroana distributed between 18° and 30°S and Lessonia spicata, which is found from 29° to 41°S along the Chilean coast. This region presents a latitudinal gradient of environmental variables, which leads to an increase in air exposure as latitude decreases. Therefore, populations of L. spicata are likely to be exposed to lower desiccation levels than those of L. berteroana. To assess adaptation to air exposure, early stages of development of these species were exposed to air daily for 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 h, and the activities of two antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase and catalase) were measured. Results showed that L. spicata spores ceased their postgermination development when exposed to 1 and 2 h of air, contrasting with L. berteroana, in which spore development was not abruptly stopped as for L. spicata. In addition, the apparent inactivation of the antioxidant enzyme catalase in both species strongly suggests a lower buffering capacity to an excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) triggered by air exposure. Thus, air exposure seems an important factor determining the northern geographic limit of L. spicata.

Keywords: air exposure; antioxidant enzymes; early life cycle stages; Lessonia; species range limit
Corresponding author: Loretto Contreras-Porcia, Departamento de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Andres Bello, República 470, Santiago, Chile, e-mail:

This work was supported by FONDECYT 11085019 and FONDECYT 1120117 to L.C-P. Additional funding came from FONDECYT 11121504 grant and from the UCSC Dirección de Investigación to F.T., FONDAP 1501-0001 (CONICYT) to the Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity (CASEB) Program 7, and ICA grant to J.C. Collaborative work was done within the framework of the GDRI “Diversity, Evolution and Biotechnology of Marine Algae “DEBMA.” We are especially grateful to C. Lovazzano, E. Guajardo, C. Sordet, M. R. Flores-Molina, and the Chango-Lab for field assistance, to J. Beltrán, D. Thomas, and L. Hiriart-Bertrand for help in culture work, to V. Flores for imaging acquisition and to B. Broitman, L. Chaparro, M. Valero, and N. Valdivia for their valuable suggestion in statistical and climatic analyses. We particularly appreciate the constructive comments from the Editor and from two anonymous reviewers that helped improve the manuscript.

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Received: 2013-4-30
Accepted: 2013-11-1
Published Online: 2013-11-26
Published in Print: 2013-12-01

©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2013-0042
Keywords for this article
air exposure; antioxidant enzymes; early life cycle stages; Lessonia; species range limit

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Masthead
  2. Masthead
  3. Research articles
  4. Ecological dynamics of Zostera marina (eelgrass) in three adjacent bays in Atlantic Canada
  5. Historical and present distribution of Zostera marina in the high north (Troms County, northern Norway) – a decline over the last century
  6. Tolerance to air exposure: a feature driving the latitudinal distribution of two sibling kelp species
  7. Colpomenia bullosa crust (Phaeophyceae) stressed less by grazing than by abiotic factors in high intertidal rockpools in southeast Australia
  8. Assessment of Fucus virsoides distribution in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea) and its relation to environmental variables
  9. Long-term changes in sublittoral macroalgal assemblages related to water quality improvement
  10. Linking macroalgal δ15N-values to nitrogen sources and effects of nutrient stress on coral condition in an upwelling region
  11. Non-coralline crustose algae associated with maerl beds in Portugal: a reappraisal of their diversity in the Atlantic Iberian beds
  12. Hydrolithon abyssophila sp. nov. (Hydrolithoideae, Corallinales), a bisporic coralline from the insular shelf edge of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (US)
  13. The first record of Grateloupia subpectinata from the New Zealand region and comparison with G. prolifera, a species endemic to the Chatham Islands
  14. Neosiphonia baliana sp. nov. and N. silvae sp. nov. (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from Bali, Indonesia
  15. Effects of density and substrate type on recruitment and growth of Pyropia torta (Rhodophyta) gametophytes
  16. Morphology and life stages of the potentially pinnatoxin-producing thecate dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum from the tropical Mexican Pacific
  17. Short communication
  18. Fungal endophytes of the seagrasses Halodule wrightii and Thalassia testudinum in the north-central Gulf of Mexico
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