Photosynthesis, Growth and Nitrogen Uptake of Competing Marine Macrophytes in the Gulf of California
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A. Cabello-Pasini
Abstract
In the Gulf of California, marine organisms can be exposed to great fluctuations of environmental parameters that regulate their metabolism and survival. We evaluated over a two-year period the photosynthetic characteristics, growth rates and nitrate uptake rates as a function of irradiance and temperature in two rhodophytes, Chondracanthus squarrulosus and Eucheuma uncinatum, endemic to the Gulf of California. In the field, plants were exposed to an annual temperature and irradiance variation of more than 14 °C and 30 mol quanta m−2 d−1, respectively. Maximum cover of C. squarrulosus in the field occurred during the winter-spring while maximum values for E. uncinatum occurred during the summer-fall. Maximum photosynthesis (Pmax) values were approximately two- to three-fold greater in C. squarrulosus than in E. uncinatum, and were out of phase in the two species by approximately three months. The greater Pmax values found for C. squarrulosus than E. uncinatum are consistent with its two-fold greater cover and growth rates in the field. Photosynthetic efficiency of C. squarrulosus decreased as temperature increased, while it remained relatively constant in E. uncinatum throughout a wide range of assayed temperature suggesting a photosynthetic advantage for C. squarrulosus over E. uncinatum during the colder/less illuminated months of the year.
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Taxonomical Index
- Estimating Biomass from the Cover of Gelidiella acerosa along the Coasts of Eastern Philippines
- Photosynthesis, Growth and Nitrogen Uptake of Competing Marine Macrophytes in the Gulf of California
- Patch Distribution and Within-Patch Dynamics of the Seagrass Zostera noltii Hornem. in Los Toruños Salt-Marsh, Cádiz Bay, Natural Park, Spain
- Interannual Variability in Flowering of Posidonia oceanica in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea, and Relationships among Shoot Age and Flowering
- A New Species of Vaucheria Epiphytic on Mangroves
- Taxonomic Notes on Marine Algae from Malaysia. XI. Four Species of Rhodophyceae
- First Record of Ceramium giacconei (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) in the North Pacific: Developmental Morphology of Vegetative and Reproductive Structures
- Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios of the Seagrass Posidonia oceanica: Depth-related Variations
- Chemical Composition of Attached and Drift Specimens of Sargassum mangarevense and Turbinaria ornata (Phaeophyta: Fucales) from Tahiti, French Polynesia
- The Chemical Structure of Galactans from Some New Zealand Red Algae
- Proceedings of the XVIIth International Seaweed Symposium, Cape Town, South Africa, 28 January 2 February 2001
- Acknowledgement
- Meetings
Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Taxonomical Index
- Estimating Biomass from the Cover of Gelidiella acerosa along the Coasts of Eastern Philippines
- Photosynthesis, Growth and Nitrogen Uptake of Competing Marine Macrophytes in the Gulf of California
- Patch Distribution and Within-Patch Dynamics of the Seagrass Zostera noltii Hornem. in Los Toruños Salt-Marsh, Cádiz Bay, Natural Park, Spain
- Interannual Variability in Flowering of Posidonia oceanica in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea, and Relationships among Shoot Age and Flowering
- A New Species of Vaucheria Epiphytic on Mangroves
- Taxonomic Notes on Marine Algae from Malaysia. XI. Four Species of Rhodophyceae
- First Record of Ceramium giacconei (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) in the North Pacific: Developmental Morphology of Vegetative and Reproductive Structures
- Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios of the Seagrass Posidonia oceanica: Depth-related Variations
- Chemical Composition of Attached and Drift Specimens of Sargassum mangarevense and Turbinaria ornata (Phaeophyta: Fucales) from Tahiti, French Polynesia
- The Chemical Structure of Galactans from Some New Zealand Red Algae
- Proceedings of the XVIIth International Seaweed Symposium, Cape Town, South Africa, 28 January 2 February 2001
- Acknowledgement
- Meetings
