Life Sciences Commons^™

Ecological And Physiological Controls Of Species Composition In Green Macroalgal Blooms, Kathryn L. Van Alstyne Dr., Timothy A. Nelson, Karalon Haberlin, Amorah V. Nelson, Heather Ribarich, Ruth Hotchkiss, Lee Buckingham, Dejah J. Simunds, Kerri Fredrickson

Shannon Point Marine Center Faculty Publications

Green macroalgal blooms have substantially altered marine community structure and function, specifically by smothering seagrasses and other primary producers that are critical to commercial fisheries and by creating anoxic conditions in enclosed embayments. Bottom-up factors are viewed as the primary drivers of these blooms, but increasing attention has been paid to biotic controls of species composition. In Washington State, USA, blooms are often dominated by Ulva spp. intertidally and Ulvaria obscura subtidally. Factors that could cause this spatial difference were examined, including competition, grazer preferences, salinity, photoacclimation, nutrient requirements, and responses to nutrient enrichment. Ova specimens grew faster than …