Spatial and Seasonal Distribution of Seaweeds on Coral Reefs from Southern Bahia, Brazil
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O. S. Costa Jr
Abstract
Macroalgae are major components of Atlantic shallow coral reef communities and potentially a major competitor with corals. This study investigates the spatial and seasonal distribution of macroalgal species, which includes fleshy algae, turf algae and some geniculate and non-geniculate corallines, on two inshore and one offshore reef from Porto Seguro Bay, Brazil. Data were collected during the dry season (July/August 1999) and the rainy season (February/March 2000), with samples being taken from the reef slope (at 1, 3 and 5 m depth) and from the reef flat. Macroalgal cover ranged from 33% (reef slope) to 60% (reef flat) on the nearshore reefs, and from 36% (reef slope) to 50% (reef flat) on the offshore reef. The largest number of infrageneric taxa was recorded during the rainy season (February/March 2000), the most abundant genera being Sargassum, Padina, Dictyota, Dictyosphaeria, Caulerpa and Amphiroa. Two species were recorded for the first time in the region: Tricleocarpa cylindrica (Rhodophyta, Galaxauraceae) and Avrainvillea longicaulis (Chlorophyta, Udoteaceae). Algal turf dominated the community structure at all reef sites and habitats. Fleshy algae are the second most conspicuous group on the reef flat in both inshore and offshore reefs. On the reef slopes, corals and zoanthids are second to turf algae in the offshore reef and nearshore reefs respectively.
Copyright © 2002 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative Sensitivity of Seven Marine Microalgae to Cumulative Exposure to Ultraviolet-B Radiation with Daily Increasing Doses
- Microspatial Variability Inside Epilithic Algal Communities within Territories of the Damselfish Stegastes nigricans at La Réunion (Indian Ocean)
- Ultrastructure and Taxonomy of Sporocladopsis novae-zelandiae (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta)
- An Agaroid-Carrageenan Hybrid Type Backbone Structure for the Antithrombotic Sulfated Polysaccharide from Grateloupia indica Boergensen (Halymeniales, Rhodophyta)
- Chemical Composition of the Brown Alga Padina pavonia (L.) Gaill. from the Adriatic Sea
- Spatial and Seasonal Distribution of Seaweeds on Coral Reefs from Southern Bahia, Brazil
- Effects of Salinity on Growth and Toxin Production of a Noxious Phytoflagellate, Heterosigma akashiwo (Raphidophyceae)
- Monthly Monitoring of Domoic Acid Producer Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries (Hasle) Hasle Using Species-Specific DNA Probes and WGA Lectins and Abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia Species (Bacillariophyceae) from Chinhae Bay, Korea
- The Structures of the Polysaccharides from Two Lophurella Species as Determined by 13C NMR Spectroscopy
- Notes on Marine Algae Collected in Guinea-Bissau, Tropical West Africa
- Predaea goffiana sp. nov., (Nemastomataceae, Rhodophyta) from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
- Meetings
