Growth and Survival of the Invasive Green Alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in Tide Pools on a Rocky Shore in Nova Scotia
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C. Bégin
Abstract
We monitored growth and survival of the invasive green alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides, and physical environmental factors (temperature, water flow, wave force), in eight tide pools in the low/mid intertidal zone on a rocky shore near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, from May to October 1999. Growth in thallus length of individually tagged plants generally increased from May to a peak in August, and did not differ between pools. Growth in circumference also increased during this period but differed significantly between pools in each month, as did growth in fresh weight (estimated from length and circumference). An index of thallus bushiness (circumference-to-length ratio) increased gradually between May and August and then decreased in September. Fragmentation of Codium occurred throughout the summer, as evidenced by tagged plants that decreased in length, and the percentage of fragmenting plants nearly doubled between August and October as wave forces increased. Growth rate based only on plants that increased in length (i.e., did not undergo substantial fragmentation) was positively correlated with pool temperature and peaked in August–September (5.6 cm/month) when temperatures were warmest (16 °C). Survival of tagged Codium did not differ between pools each month and decreased exponentially over the study to 30% by October. Survival of Codium in tide pools was negatively related to bushiness index, suggesting that large bushy plants are more likely to be dislodged by wave forces. Mortality of Codium was offset by recruitment between May and August, such that plant density remained relatively stable in four of five pools, and increased markedly in one other. Our study demonstrates that Codium has become successfully established in wave-exposed intertidal habitats at the northern limit of its current geographic range in the northwest Atlantic.
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- To Gerald T. Boalch, with Our Gratitude
- Growth and Survival of the Invasive Green Alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in Tide Pools on a Rocky Shore in Nova Scotia
- Structure of the Macroalgal Community Associated with the Seagrass Halodule wrightii Ascherson in the Abrolhos Marine National Park, Brazil
- The Life History of Lophothamnion hirtum (Hook. f. et Harv.) Womersley (Rhodophyta, Ceramiaceae) from Southern New Zealand
- Gametangium-like Structures as Propagation Buds in Codium edule Silva (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta)
- Ultrastructural Study of Zoosporogenesis in the Siphonous Green Alga Derbesia tenuissima (Chlorophyta)
- Schimmelmannia venezuelensis sp. nov. (Gloiosiphoniaceae, Rhodophyta) from Venezuela
- Fatty Acids of Species in the Genus Codium
- Rheological Characteristics of Fucoidan Isolated from Commercially Cultured Cladosiphon okamuranus
- Effects of Light, Salinity and Inorganic Nitrogen on Cell Growth and Spirolide Production in the Marine Dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Balech et Tangen
- Morphology of Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Baltic Sea and in Chesapeake Bay: Comparison of Cell Shapes and Thecal Ornamentation
- Ordinal Placement of Selected Marine Dothideomycetes Inferred from Small Subunit Ribosomal DNA Sequence Analysis
- Meetings
Articles in the same Issue
- To Gerald T. Boalch, with Our Gratitude
- Growth and Survival of the Invasive Green Alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides in Tide Pools on a Rocky Shore in Nova Scotia
- Structure of the Macroalgal Community Associated with the Seagrass Halodule wrightii Ascherson in the Abrolhos Marine National Park, Brazil
- The Life History of Lophothamnion hirtum (Hook. f. et Harv.) Womersley (Rhodophyta, Ceramiaceae) from Southern New Zealand
- Gametangium-like Structures as Propagation Buds in Codium edule Silva (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta)
- Ultrastructural Study of Zoosporogenesis in the Siphonous Green Alga Derbesia tenuissima (Chlorophyta)
- Schimmelmannia venezuelensis sp. nov. (Gloiosiphoniaceae, Rhodophyta) from Venezuela
- Fatty Acids of Species in the Genus Codium
- Rheological Characteristics of Fucoidan Isolated from Commercially Cultured Cladosiphon okamuranus
- Effects of Light, Salinity and Inorganic Nitrogen on Cell Growth and Spirolide Production in the Marine Dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii (Paulsen) Balech et Tangen
- Morphology of Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Baltic Sea and in Chesapeake Bay: Comparison of Cell Shapes and Thecal Ornamentation
- Ordinal Placement of Selected Marine Dothideomycetes Inferred from Small Subunit Ribosomal DNA Sequence Analysis
- Meetings
