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Decrease in Lithothamnion sp. (Rhodophyta) primary production due to the deposition of a thin sediment layer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2008

Pablo Riul ,
Carlos Henrique Targino ,
Julyana Da Nóbrega Farias ,
Pieter Teunis Visscher  and
Paulo Antunes Horta
Pablo Riul*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, CCEN, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58059- 900, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil
Carlos Henrique Targino
Affiliation:
Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, CCEN, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58059- 900, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil
Julyana Da Nóbrega Farias
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, CCB, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 88010-970, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Pieter Teunis Visscher
Affiliation:
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT 06340, USA
Paulo Antunes Horta
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, CCB, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 88010-970, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Pablo Riul Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia CCEN, Universidade Federal de Paríba, 58059-900 João Pessoa PBBrasil email: pabloriul@yahoo.com.br
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Abstract

Coralline algae are important reef-builders which can form nodules, known as rhodoliths, occurring worldwide in beds sustaining a high biodiversity. Although considered a non-renewable resource, they are exploited as a source of calcium carbonate used mainly for agricultural purposes. In Brazil between 96,000 and 120,000 metric tonnes of rhodoliths are extracted per year. Besides the direct impact caused by removal on the coralline bed, the dredge process may also produce a plume of fine sediment, which can change the primary production of the remaining organisms. In this study, four treatments, with three replicates, were used to acquire Lithothamnion sp. net photosynthetic rates with and without a sediment layer using a Clark-type oxygen microelectrode and micromanipulator. The results demonstrated that, under controlled conditions, the addition of a thin sediment layer resulted in a 30% reduction of the irradiance, decreasing the Lithothamnion sp. net production in 70%. For this reason direct and indirect effects of mechanical exploitation of the rhodolith beds should be included in future studies that focus on environmental impacts of dredging activity, whether it is linked to the extraction of these algae.

Keywords

rhodolithCorallinaceaephotosynthesismaërlcoralline algae
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 17 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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