Macroalgal assemblages in New Zealand: structure, interactions and demography. Hydrobiologia 192

• Main Author: David R. Schiel
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1990
• Subjects: Key words; New Zealand; fucalean algae; laminarian algae; competition; sea urchin; grazing; population; Antarctic; Antarc*; Auckland Islands
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.548.5281; http://www.pams.canterbury.ac.nz/merg/publications/pdfs/Schiel 1990.pdf

structure Quantitative descriptions of macroalgal distributions from low intertidal regions to a sublittoral depth of 20 m are presented for rocky reefs from several localities ranging over 16 ° latitude in New Zealand. These include the northern and southern main islands as well as the Chatham Islands and the sub-antarctic Auckland Islands. Fucalean algae are dominant in the shallow sublittoral regions throughout NZ. Laminarian species are rare and generally reach their greatest abundances at 7-17 m depth. The colder waters in central and southern NZ tend to have different dominant species from those in northern NZ. Sea urchins form a characteristic zone devoid of kelp at 5-8 m in the north, but tend to occur only in patches on reefs in southern localities. Summaries of experiments in the north show that strong inter-specific effects occur among algal species, particularly due to canopy shading, and between sea urchins and algae. Much of the patchiness in algal assemblages, however, is not accounted for by these effects. A knowledge of the demographic processes of individual species is necessary to understand assemblage organization; life histories, phenology and biogeography significantly affect distributions and interactions.