Filamentous calcareous alga provides substrate for coral-competitive macroalgae in the degraded lagoon of Dongsha Atoll, Taiwan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The chemically-rich seaweed Galaxaura is not only highly competitive with corals, but also provides substrate for other macroalgae. Its ecology and associated epiphytes remain largely unexplored. To fill this knowledge gap, we undertook an ecological assessment to explore the spatial variation, temporal dynamics, and diversity of epiphytic macroalgae of Galaxaura divaricata on patch reefs in the lagoon of Dongsha Atoll, a shallow coral reef ecosystem in the northern South China Sea that has been repeatedly impacted by mass coral bleaching events.

Methods

Twelve spatially independent patch reefs in the Dongsha lagoon were first surveyed to assess benthic composition in April 2016, and then revisited to determine G. divaricata cover in September 2017, with one addit

SUBMITTER: Nieder C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6522048 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature