Population Dynamics and Ecology of Caulerpa Prolifera vs Caulerpa Taxifolia var. Distichophylla within a Levantine Gulf

• Published in: Thalassas : revista de ciencias del mar 2022-10, Vol.38 (2), p.1311-1325
• Main Authors: Mutlu, Erhan, Olguner, Cansu, Gökoğlu, Mehmet, Özvarol, Yaşar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Biometry; Bottom temperature; Caulerpa; Caulerpa prolifera; Caulerpa taxifolia; Coastal Sciences; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Environmental factors; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Growth rate; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Morphometry; Oceanography; Parameters; Phosphates; Planting density; Population dynamics; Seaweeds; Species; Temporal distribution; Total organic carbon; Variables
• ISSN: 0212-5919; 2366-1674
• DOI: 10.1007/s41208-022-00477-7

Sampling for two seaweeds and environmental parameters was seasonally repeated in 2011–2012 for temporal distribution of their biometrical patterns (density and plant traits) in the infralittoral of a Turkish Mediterranean gulf. Of a total of nine seaweed species found in the present study, two species were common; Caulerpa prolifera and Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla . The density and morphometrical measurements were significantly different between two common species, Caulerpa prolifera and Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla, and the measurements were found to be opposite between the two species in time and space. Asymptotic frond length (L∞) of Caulerpa prolifera and Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla was estimated to be 221.3 mm and 181.75 mm, whereas the annual growth rate (K) value was rather low at 0.13 and 0.11, and t 0 was -0.70 and -0.55 years, respectively. The environmental parameters contrasted the biometrical measurements between these two species. NH 4 and PO 4 concentrations of the near-bottom waters were positively correlated with the densities, followed by near-bottom temperature and TOC content of the sediment. There was a seasonal effect on the density variables of both species, but there was no depthwise effect. The environmental variables controlling the density variables of both species dictated the morphometrics similarly. Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla appeared dominantly under tropical conditions (July–September) and disappeared in winter (January). The bottom depth affected slightly the morphometrics of only Caulerpa prolifera.