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Spore dispersal in the intertidal kelp Lessonia spicata: macrochallenges for the harvested Lessonia species complex at microscales of space and time

  • Gloria M. Parada

    Gloria M. Parada obtained her degree in Marine Biology from the Universidad de Valparaíso (Chile) and her MSc degree in Management of Marine Resources from CICIMAR-IPN (La Paz, BCS Mexico). Her research focused on several ecological aspects of the Laminariales and she worked for several years designing investment projects for small-scale farmers and small-scale fishermen of the Chilean coasts. At present, she works as a professional consultant for Visión Oceánica Ltd., in Santiago, Chile.

         , Florence Tellier

    Florence Tellier is an Assistant Professor at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepcion, in Concepcion, Chile. She obtained her PhD in 2009 from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC-Paris 6-Sorbonne Universités) under a joint PhD program. The present publication was drafted in collaboration with E. A. Martinez and G. M. Parada during her postdoctoral position at the Universidad Católica del Norte, in Coquimbo, Chile. Her research interests include speciation and dispersal and adaptation mechanisms in marine macroalgae with a particular focus on the evolutionary processes affecting Laminariales.

         and Enrique A. Martínez

    Enrique A. Martínez obtained his PhD from the Pontificia Universidad Católica where he worked on the ecology and evolution of microscopic stages of Chilean kelps. For 20 years he researched and published about the complex life history of seaweeds. Motivated by the disappearance of small-scale farmers and increasingly poor nutritional quality of human foods, he began to study the Andean plant Quinoa. Overharvesting pressures on kelp and new discoveries in kelp micro-evolutionary issues moved Enrique and his colleagues to reanalyze unpublished kelp data to provide novel insight for kelp management. He is an ad honorem head professor at the Universidad Católica del Norte and a CEAZA Associate Researcher.

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Published/Copyright: July 29, 2016
Botanica Marina
From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 59 Issue 4

Abstract

The intertidal coast of Chile has two cryptic kelp species, Lessonia spicata and L. berteroana, which share closely situated, but not overlapping, high-energy habitats. Their populations recover slowly after major disturbances and massive mortalities, suggesting that dispersal from remnant populations is strongly limited. This low dispersal is also a factor that probably favours the speciation process. Understanding the limiting factors for spore dispersal is crucial. Here we evaluated 1. spore dispersal and spore dilution over distance, 2. if submersion in calm waters for a specific period of time is needed for the settlement of spores before exposure to water movement, and 3. duration of spore attachment ability. Results were consistent with the hypothesis of low-distance dispersal of spores: stained-spore dilution was high at short spatial scales (<4 m); spores settled quickly (1–2 min) even under constant water movement, but they lost the ability to attach rapidly (≤16 h). Water motion did not affect spore attachment to the substratum, a fact probably resulting from an adaptation to high energy intertidal habitats. The very low dispersal range of the spores may explain the strong genetic differentiation at small spatial scales, the speciation event that occurred within the Lessonia species complex and the slow recovery of L. berteroana after massive mortalities occurring with the 1982/1983 El Niño Southern oscillation event.

Keywords: Laminariales; seaweeds; settlement; spore attachment

About the authors

Gloria M. Parada

Gloria M. Parada obtained her degree in Marine Biology from the Universidad de Valparaíso (Chile) and her MSc degree in Management of Marine Resources from CICIMAR-IPN (La Paz, BCS Mexico). Her research focused on several ecological aspects of the Laminariales and she worked for several years designing investment projects for small-scale farmers and small-scale fishermen of the Chilean coasts. At present, she works as a professional consultant for Visión Oceánica Ltd., in Santiago, Chile.

Florence Tellier

Florence Tellier is an Assistant Professor at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepcion, in Concepcion, Chile. She obtained her PhD in 2009 from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC-Paris 6-Sorbonne Universités) under a joint PhD program. The present publication was drafted in collaboration with E. A. Martinez and G. M. Parada during her postdoctoral position at the Universidad Católica del Norte, in Coquimbo, Chile. Her research interests include speciation and dispersal and adaptation mechanisms in marine macroalgae with a particular focus on the evolutionary processes affecting Laminariales.

Enrique A. Martínez

Enrique A. Martínez obtained his PhD from the Pontificia Universidad Católica where he worked on the ecology and evolution of microscopic stages of Chilean kelps. For 20 years he researched and published about the complex life history of seaweeds. Motivated by the disappearance of small-scale farmers and increasingly poor nutritional quality of human foods, he began to study the Andean plant Quinoa. Overharvesting pressures on kelp and new discoveries in kelp micro-evolutionary issues moved Enrique and his colleagues to reanalyze unpublished kelp data to provide novel insight for kelp management. He is an ad honorem head professor at the Universidad Católica del Norte and a CEAZA Associate Researcher.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the help provided by J.M. Bogdanovich, F. Ogalde, P. Martínez, E. Wieters and C. Buffet for field and laboratory experiments. Funds were provided through the following grants: DIPUC; IFS A/2497-1; FONDECYT 1990235, 11121504; IAI-SGP-024 and FONDAP-CASEB-Program 7. Comments and English corrections by G. Filloramo, L. Retamal, D. Prehn, L. Eaton, W. Kreger, M. Thiel, M. Dring, the editor, and by two anonymous reviewers are deeply appreciated. As well we thank L. Parada for the drawings and Maria Teresa and Nora Elena for hosting G.M. Parada and E.A. Martínez over the last months during which the manuscript was finished. We dedicate this work to Dr. Rafael Riosmena Rodríguez (Programa de Investigación en Botánica Marina, UABCS, La Paz, Mexico) who recently passed away.

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Received: 2016-4-21
Accepted: 2016-6-30
Published Online: 2016-7-29
Published in Print: 2016-8-1

©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2016-0034
Keywords for this article
Laminariales; seaweeds; settlement; spore attachment

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Research articles
  4. Genomic and phylogenetic analysis of Ceramium cimbricum (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans supports the naming of a new invasive Pacific entity Ceramium sungminbooi sp. nov.
  5. A collections-based approach to the species and their distribution based on the bladed Bangiales (Rhodophyta) of Iceland
  6. Community structure of epiphytic diatoms on seaweeds in Northeastern Brazil
  7. Method validation and determination of total iodine in seaweed bathwater
  8. Proximate biochemical composition and mineral content of edible species from the genus Cystoseira in Portugal
  9. Assessment of the establishment success of eelgrass Zostera marina (Alismatales: Zosteraceae) from seeds in a cost-effective seed protection method: implications for large-scale restoration
  10. First evidence of Ostreopsis cf. ovata in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, Ecuadorian coast
  11. First evidence of the deep-sea fungus Oceanitis scuticella Kohlmeyer (Halosphaeriaceae, Ascomycota) from the Northern Hemisphere
  12. Short communication
  13. Spore dispersal in the intertidal kelp Lessonia spicata: macrochallenges for the harvested Lessonia species complex at microscales of space and time
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