SEAWEEDS OF THE BRAVE BOAT HARBOR SALT MARSH AND ADJACENT OPEN COAST OF SOUTHERN MAINE

• Published in: Rhodora 2001-12, Vol.103 (913), p.1-46
• Main Authors: Mathieson, Arthur C., Dawes, Clinton J., Anderson, Michelle L., Hehre, Edward J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Aquatic habitats; Boats; Coasts; Estuaries; Harbors; Salt marshes; Seaweeds; Taxa; Tributaries
• ISSN: 0035-4902; 1938-3401

A comparison of species richness at 51 coastal and estuarine sites in southern Maine is given, encompassing the area from Cape Neddick, York, to Fort Foster, Kittery, and including the Brave Boat Harbor salt marsh (York/Kittery). A total of 148 taxa was recorded, which is relatively high compared to other coastal or estuarine areas in northern New England. Seaweed populations exhibited three major distributional patterns: coastal (41%), coastal-estuarine (51%), and estuarine (8%). Perennial species dominated open coastal and outer estuarine locations, while annuals were most conspicuous at inner estuarine sites. Twenty-nine taxa were restricted to a single site (2% occurrence), whereas 19 were found at 21—36 sites (41—71% occurrence). Diversity in Brave Boat Harbor's main tidal channel was relatively high (83 species), presumably because of coastal and estuarine influences, diversity of habitats, and limited anthropogenic impacts. Six new or uncommon seaweeds were recorded from Brave Boat Harbor, including the invasive green alga Codium fragile subsp. tomentosoides, the green algal epiphyte Urospora curvata, the tubular opportunistic brown alga Melanosiphon intestinalis, the entangled or partially embedded ecads Fucus vesiculosus ecad volubilis and F. spiralis ecad lutarius, and a dwarf embedded moss or "muscoides-like" Fucus. The prolific growth of psammophytic populations of F. spiralis on sandy bluffs at Brave Boat Harbor is also unique, as it typically grows on hard substrata within contiguous muddy estuaries. It was most abundant in the outer third of the Harbor, along with its detached ecad lutarius. Ascophyllum nodosum ecad scorpioides and F. vesiculosus ecad volubilis grew commonly as detached or buried populations in the interior parts of the Harbor, while the "muscoides-like" Fucus was found on outer high sandy marsh surfaces.