Resilience of Cystoseira beds: lack of canopy effects on recruitment
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Luigi Piazzi
Luigi Piazzi has a PhD in marine ecology and currently works as a researcher at the University of Sassari, Italy. His fields of interest include macroalgal taxonomy and ecology, seagrass communities, ecology of alien species and interactions between plants and benthic animals.
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David Balata
David Balata has a PhD in marine ecology. He worked as researcher at the University of Pisa, Bologna and Dublin. His fields of interest include macroalgal, seagrass and alien species ecology.
Giulia Ceccherelli is a researcher in the Department of Science for Nature and Environmental Resources at University of Sassari, Italy, specializing in marine community ecology. She and her students use manipulative field experiments to test hypotheses mostly on species interactions and human-induced impacts.
Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of the presence of an adult canopy on the recruitment of the habitat-forming seaweed Cystoseira brachycarpa var. balearica, in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this objective, a field experiment was performed and recruitment was estimated both in the middle and at the edge of cleared patches, as well as within the bed, on ceramic tiles anchored to the rocky substrate. At the end of the study, neither the number nor the heights of Cystoseira thalli were significantly different among the positions, suggesting that there were no facilitating or inhibiting effects on recruitment.
About the authors
Luigi Piazzi has a PhD in marine ecology and currently works as a researcher at the University of Sassari, Italy. His fields of interest include macroalgal taxonomy and ecology, seagrass communities, ecology of alien species and interactions between plants and benthic animals.
David Balata has a PhD in marine ecology. He worked as researcher at the University of Pisa, Bologna and Dublin. His fields of interest include macroalgal, seagrass and alien species ecology.
Giulia Ceccherelli is a researcher in the Department of Science for Nature and Environmental Resources at University of Sassari, Italy, specializing in marine community ecology. She and her students use manipulative field experiments to test hypotheses mostly on species interactions and human-induced impacts.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to A.D. Irving for his helpful suggestions and to A. Scordamaglia for English language revision. L. Piazzi was funded by “Desertificazione marina da sovrapascolo di ricci: indagine sulla transizione di stadi stabili bentonici alternativi” project granted by P.O.R. SARDEGNA F.S.E. 2007–2013 – Obiettivo competitività regionale e occupazione, Asse IV Capitale umano, Linea di Attività l.3.1.
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©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Physiology and ecology
- Primary utricle structure of six Halimeda species and potential relevance for ocean acidification tolerance
- Red algal parasites: a synopsis of described species, their hosts, distinguishing characters and areas for continued research
- Physiological responses of Porphyra haitanensis (Rhodophyta) to copper and cadmium exposure
- Implications of rising temperatures for gametophyte performance of two kelp species from Arctic waters
- Resilience of Cystoseira beds: lack of canopy effects on recruitment
- Taxonomy/phylogeny and biogeography
- Checklist of Rhodophyta of the White Sea (the Arctic Ocean)
- A study of the original material of Lithothamnion engelhartii Foslie (Corallinales, Rhodophyta)
- Morphology of Sinophysis microcephala and Sinophysis canaliculata (Dinophyceae) from the South Atlantic Ocean
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Physiology and ecology
- Primary utricle structure of six Halimeda species and potential relevance for ocean acidification tolerance
- Red algal parasites: a synopsis of described species, their hosts, distinguishing characters and areas for continued research
- Physiological responses of Porphyra haitanensis (Rhodophyta) to copper and cadmium exposure
- Implications of rising temperatures for gametophyte performance of two kelp species from Arctic waters
- Resilience of Cystoseira beds: lack of canopy effects on recruitment
- Taxonomy/phylogeny and biogeography
- Checklist of Rhodophyta of the White Sea (the Arctic Ocean)
- A study of the original material of Lithothamnion engelhartii Foslie (Corallinales, Rhodophyta)
- Morphology of Sinophysis microcephala and Sinophysis canaliculata (Dinophyceae) from the South Atlantic Ocean
