Marine Biology Commons^™

The Use Of Detached Kelp (Ecklonia Radiata) By Seagrass-Associated Mesograzers In Temperate South-Western Australia, Christopher Doropoulos

Theses : Honours

The movement of nutrients and organisms between habitats provide important spatial subsidies on local and regional scales, resulting in increased primary and secondary production, especially where inputs supplement habitats of relatively low levels of comparable resources. In coastal south-western Australia, the brown kelp, Ecklonia radiata, is produced in large quantities on offshore reefs from where it detaches and passes through neighbouring habitats. This allochthonous resource is present in large quantities in seagrass meadows and thereby potentially influences the trophic dynamics of this habitat, providing an additional food source for grazers to those produced in situ. This study investigated the effects …