Increased ammonium levels occurring during benthic algal blooms are potentially toxic to fucalean algae
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Ljiljana Iveša
Ljiljana Iveša is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Her field of research includes taxonomy and ecology of macrophytobenthos (seaweeds and seagrasses), ecology of coastal habitats of the natural rocky shore and artificial hard surfaces and assessment of the ecological status of coastal waters using macroalgal assemblages. Her current research is focused on ecology of canopy-forming species of the order Fucales and distribution patterns of non-indigenous species.
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Tamara Djakovac
Tamara Djakovac is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Her field of research includes marine chemistry (nutrients), hydrography and water column processes. Her current research is focused on the monitoring of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the coastal northern Adriatic, including an assessment of the eutrophication pressure on that ecosystem by measuring and elaboration of different corresponding oceanographic parameters.
Andrea Bilajac is an assistant at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia, and a PhD candidate. His field of interest is the ecology of canopy and forest forming fucalean macroalgae. As part of the project HabCYS, his current work is focused on assessing the impact of local and global stressors on Fucalean macroalgae, mapping of Fucalean species along the west Istrian Coast and building a scientific basis for the restoration of degraded marine forests.
Edi Gljušćić is an assistant at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. His field includes marine conservation biology as well as marine ecology. Currently, his work is focused on the ecology and restoration of canopy-forming fucalean species habitats, especially in the mediolitoral zone and tidepools. He also collects terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity data of Istria mainly on butterflies, dragonflies, amphibians and reptiles.
Massimo Devescovi is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. His filed of research includes ecophysiology of marine crustaceans, distribution patterns of macrozoobenthos and macrophytobenthos on the rocky bottom including the rock-boring bivalve
Lithophaga lithophaga . Over the last years he investigated the effects of the anthropogenic impact on rocky bottom communities.
Abstract
During the spring of 2016, benthic blooms of Acinetospora crinita (Ectocarpales, Phaeophyceae) producing voluminous mucilaginous aggregates frequently occurred at surveyed locations of the west Istrian Coast (northern Adriatic Sea, Croatia). In mucilage-affected macroalgal assemblages, the concentration of ammonium ranged from 50 to 300 μM. To investigate whether ammonium has the potential to harm fucalean species, a selected taxon, Cystoseira compressa was exposed to increased ammonium concentrations in laboratory conditions. Experiments revealed that exposure to 50 μM ammonium severely damaged the thalli while exposure to 300 μM caused complete necrosis of thalli in 2 days. These findings suggest that benthic algal blooms, enhanced by climate change and eutrophication, can negatively affect the populations of fucalean species due to production of ammonium during the decay of mucilaginous aggregates, causing thallus necrosis.
Funding source: Hrvatska Zaklada za Znanost
Award Identifier / Grant number: IP-2019-04-6984
About the authors
Ljiljana Iveša is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Her field of research includes taxonomy and ecology of macrophytobenthos (seaweeds and seagrasses), ecology of coastal habitats of the natural rocky shore and artificial hard surfaces and assessment of the ecological status of coastal waters using macroalgal assemblages. Her current research is focused on ecology of canopy-forming species of the order Fucales and distribution patterns of non-indigenous species.
Tamara Djakovac is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. Her field of research includes marine chemistry (nutrients), hydrography and water column processes. Her current research is focused on the monitoring of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the coastal northern Adriatic, including an assessment of the eutrophication pressure on that ecosystem by measuring and elaboration of different corresponding oceanographic parameters.
Andrea Bilajac is an assistant at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia, and a PhD candidate. His field of interest is the ecology of canopy and forest forming fucalean macroalgae. As part of the project HabCYS, his current work is focused on assessing the impact of local and global stressors on Fucalean macroalgae, mapping of Fucalean species along the west Istrian Coast and building a scientific basis for the restoration of degraded marine forests.
Edi Gljušćić is an assistant at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. His field includes marine conservation biology as well as marine ecology. Currently, his work is focused on the ecology and restoration of canopy-forming fucalean species habitats, especially in the mediolitoral zone and tidepools. He also collects terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity data of Istria mainly on butterflies, dragonflies, amphibians and reptiles.
Massimo Devescovi is a senior research associate at the Center for Marine Research in Rovinj, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia. His filed of research includes ecophysiology of marine crustaceans, distribution patterns of macrozoobenthos and macrophytobenthos on the rocky bottom including the rock-boring bivalve Lithophaga lithophaga. Over the last years he investigated the effects of the anthropogenic impact on rocky bottom communities.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Margareta Buterer for help in the laboratory and Dr. Mirjana Najdek for critical reading of the manuscript. We are also grateful to the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and constructive criticism.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: The study was supported by Croatian Science Foundation project The responses of habitat-forming brown macroalgae of the genus Cystoseira on local and global stressors (grant no. IP-2019-04-6984).
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Physiology and ecology
- Different light and temperature requirements for survival and growth in three species of Kallymeniaceae (Rhodophyta) from the Mediterranean Sea
- The effect of salinity on aspects of the early development of the kelp species Undaria pinnatifida and Saccorhiza polyschides
- Increased ammonium levels occurring during benthic algal blooms are potentially toxic to fucalean algae
- Comparison of selenium-induced antioxidant responses and bioaccumulation in two strains of the halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina
- Taxonomy/phylogeny and biogeography
- Culturable fungi associated with the marine shallow-water hydrothermal vent crab Xenograpsus testudinatus at Kueishan Island, Taiwan
- Chemistry and applications
- Sulfoquinovose metabolism in marine algae
- Biochemical characterization of eight Greek algae as candidate species for local seaweed cultivation
- Trace element concentrations in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf identified by morphology and DNA barcodes
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Physiology and ecology
- Different light and temperature requirements for survival and growth in three species of Kallymeniaceae (Rhodophyta) from the Mediterranean Sea
- The effect of salinity on aspects of the early development of the kelp species Undaria pinnatifida and Saccorhiza polyschides
- Increased ammonium levels occurring during benthic algal blooms are potentially toxic to fucalean algae
- Comparison of selenium-induced antioxidant responses and bioaccumulation in two strains of the halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina
- Taxonomy/phylogeny and biogeography
- Culturable fungi associated with the marine shallow-water hydrothermal vent crab Xenograpsus testudinatus at Kueishan Island, Taiwan
- Chemistry and applications
- Sulfoquinovose metabolism in marine algae
- Biochemical characterization of eight Greek algae as candidate species for local seaweed cultivation
- Trace element concentrations in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf identified by morphology and DNA barcodes
