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VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SEAWEED SPORES IN A WATER COLUMN OFFSHORE OF NORTH CAROLINA 1
Author(s) -
Amsler Charles D.,
Searles Richard B.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8817.1980.tb03080.x
Subject(s) - spore , algae , biology , water column , botany , epiphyte , biological dispersal , green algae , red algae , ecology , population , demography , sociology
ABSTRACT Differences in the vertical distribution of seaweed spores in a 20 m water column 30 km off the coast of North Carolina were documented. Spores were collected on plastic, and glass slides that were subsequently transferred to incubator cultures where germlings were grown and counted. Spores of green algae and bangiophycidean red algae were collected throughout the water column, whereas spores of brown algae and florideophycidean red algae occurred almost exclusively near the bottom. The occurrence of some kinds of spores in the upper water levels suggests relatively large dispersal shadows for those species. The taxa recovered in the upper levels were typically opportunistic organisms, many of them epiphytes. The collection of many Enteromorpha individuals in the upper and mid levels was of particular interest since locally this genus only occurs in abundance in shallow water habitats 35 km or more from the study site.