Species composition and seasonal changes in macroalgal blooms in lagoons along the southeastern Gulf of California

Abstract

Species composition and seasonal changes in macroalgal blooms in six coastal lagoons highly impacted by human activities were tracked for the three seasons between May 2004 and April 2005. Though temperatures were lower during the cold season than during the dry and rainy seasons and some locations showed variations in salinity during the rainy season, nutrient concentrations showed no defined pattern and varied according to season and location. A total of 10 seaweed species and the cyanobacterium Microcoleus lyngbyaceus had biomasses)1 g m-2 dry weight, but only four species represented)1% of the annual biomass. During the dry season, Spyridia filamentosa had the highest biomass (57.5 g m-2). During the rainy season, Gracilaria vermiculophylla was the most conspicuous and abundant species (64.0-291.0 g m-2) and during the cold season, Caulerpa sertularioides had the highest biomass (180.1 g m-2). Abundances of these species were higher than previously reported for this region. Correlation analyses showed a positive correlation between total phosphorus and the biomass of G. vermiculophylla, suggesting that this nutrient might be limiting its growth. C. sertularioides abundance had a positive correlation with N:P ratios, suggesting that high concentrations of nitrogen relative to low phosphorus levels favor its growth. These analyses revealed that nutrient concentrations are most likely to affect macroalgal growth, but temperature and salinity also play a role. This information may be useful for monitoring future blooms and determining changes over time.

Effect of nutrient availability on understory algae during El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions in Central Pacific Baja California

“…Due to coastal development and sewage discharges, seaweed communities are often subject to increasing nutrient concentration (Palumbi 2003). Such anthropogenic nutrient increase often results in macroalgae blooms (Valiela et al 1997;Lotze and Schramm 2000;McGlathery 2001;Piñon-Gimate et al 2008) and similar effects have been reported for Ulva beds in naturally nutrient-enriched pristine zones (Pacheco-Ruíz et al 2002). The effect of nutrient enrichment could affect the community as a whole or affect some species, such as dominant species (Palumbi 2003).…”

Selection of effective macroalgal species and tracing nitrogen sources on the different part of Yantai coast, China indicated by macroalgal δ15N values

“…Besides of DIN concentrations, P is also important for the growth of macroalgae. The tissue TN comparisons among the four sites were consistent with the PO 4 -P concentrations and the DIN : PO 4 -P ratios, however were not consistent with the DIN concentrations at S2, S3 and S4, implying the potential impacts from P limitation at these three sites (Piñón-Gimate et al, 2008, 2009). Due to the lack of algal tissue TP, it is impossible to compare the algal tissue TN:TP ratios with seawater DIN:PO 4 -P ratios in our study.…”

Long-term changes in sublittoral macroalgal assemblages related to water quality improvement

“…Cladophora albida and Cladophora prolifera showed the largest decreases in coverage between 1982 and 1999. The majority of these species are indicative of eutrophication (Borowitzka 1972, López Gappa et al 1993, Rodríguez-Prieto and Polo 1996, Arévalo et al 2007, Piñón-Gimate et al 2008, Teichberg et al 2010 as the abundance of these species increases in the presence of excess nutrients. Moreover, a decrease in opportunistic green algae has usually been reported following decommissioning of outfalls (Smith et al 1981, Archambault et al 2001, Soltan et al 2001, Tsiamis et al 2013.…”