A Comparative-Study of Temperature Responses of Caribbean Seaweeds from Different Biogeographic Groups

• Published in: Journal of Phycology
• Main Authors: Pakker, Hans, Breeman, Anneke M., Prud'homme van Reine, Willem F., van den Hock, Chris
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: BIOGEOGRAPHY; CARIBBEAN; PALEOCLIMATES; TEMPERATURE RESPONSES; TROPICAL SEAWEEDS; NORTH-ATLANTIC OCEAN; BENTHIC MARINE-ALGAE; CLADOPHORA CLADOPHORALES; REEF CORALS; CHLOROPHYTA; MACROALGAE; GROWTH; REQUIREMENTS; HAWAIIAN; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/d196339c-0125-444c-9d55-d753edb2686c; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/d196339c-0125-444c-9d55-d753edb2686c; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.1995.tb02543.x

Temperature tolerances were determined for Caribbean isolates (total 31) of seaweeds belonging to three distributional groups: 1) species confined to the tropical western Atlantic (Botryocladia spinulifera, Chamaedoris peniculum, Cladophoropsis sundanensis, Dictyopteris justii, Dictyurus occidentalis, Haloplegma duperreyi, and Heterosiphonia gibbesii); 2) amphi-Atlantic species with a (sub)tropical distribution that have their northern boundary in the eastern Atlantic at the tropical Cape Verde Islands (Bryothamnion triquetrum and Ceramium nitens) or the subtropical Canary Islands (Ceratodictyon intricatum, Coelothrix irregularis, Dictyopteris delicatula, Ernodesmis verticillata, and Lophocladia trichoclados; and 3 species with an amphi-Atlantic tropical to warm-temperate distribution also occurring in the Mediterranean (Cladophoropsis membranacea, Digenea simplex, Microdictyon boergesenii, and Wurdemannia miniata). For some isolates, growth response curves and temperature requirements for reproduction were also determined. Growth occurred in the range (18)20 degrees-30 degrees C with optimum growth rates at 25 degrees-30 degrees C, irrespective of distribution group. Reproduction generally occurred at (20)25 degrees-30 degrees C although there were some exceptions. Species were extremely stenothermal, with those restricted to the western Atlantic surviving a total range of only 10 / 13 degrees C (between 18 / 20 degrees and 30 / 33 degrees C). Tolerance to high temperatures was correlated with vertical position in the intertidal/subtidal zone rather than biogeographic grouping. Species restricted to the subtidal were the beast tolerant, with permanent survival at 30 degrees C but not at 33 degrees C. Tolerance to low temperatures was not different in subtidal and intertidal species but was significantly better in amphi-Atlantic than in western Atlantic species. In the former group, damage occurred at 15 degrees-18 degrees C but in the latter group at 18 degrees-20 degrees C. We propose that these differences in ...