Seasonal dynamics of epiphytes on the seagrass Amphibolis griffithii

• Main Authors: Borowitzka, M.A., Lethbridge, R.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Penguin Island; Shoalwater Bay
• Online Access: https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/36185/

An intensive four year study of the epiphytic organisms of Amphibolis griffithii near Penguin Island, Shoalwater Bay, Western Australia found a total of 95 species of algae and 37 species of invertebrates on the stems and 27 species of invertebrates on the leaves. The epiphytic algae community shows distinct seasonal changes in community structure whereas seasonal changes are much harder to detect in the epiphytic invertebrates. The most abundant algae, in term of biomass, where the coralline algae Metagoniolithon stelliferum and Haliptilon roseum and the red algae Polysiphonia japonica var. forfex and Hypnea spinella. This paper will discuss these findings on the seasonality of the epiphytes in light of hypotheses concerning factors which affect their community structure.