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

• Erhan Mutlu ^[1] ; Cansu Olguner ^[2] ; Mehmet Gökoğlu ^[1] ; Yaşar Özvarol ^[1]
  1. [1] Akdeniz University

     Akdeniz University

     Turquía

     
  2. [2] Birey High School, Antalya, Turkey
• Localización: Thalassas: An international journal of marine sciences, ISSN 0212-5919, Vol. 38, Nº. 2 (October 2022), 2022, págs. 1311-1325
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • 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 t0 was -0.70 and -0.55 years, respectively. The environmental parameters contrasted the biometrical measurements between these two species. NH4 and PO4 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.