The Effect of Density on Growth, CaCO3 Accumulation, Recruitment, and Mortality Rates of Halimeda macroloba Decaisne
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Abstract
Halimeda macroloba Decaisne is a macrophytic green alga (Chlorophyta, Ulvophyceae) widely distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical marine ecosystems. It plays important role not only primary producers, but also potential calcium carbonate producer in the coastal ecosystems. The loss of this calcified Halimeda might have negative effects on ecosystem, decreasing the CaCO3 sands. Little is known of the effects of density on the population dynamics and CaCO3 contribution. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of population density on growth, CaCO3 accumulation, recruitment, and mortality rates. Three different density treatments were selected in a natural population of H. macroloba. A natural density of 19 thalli quadrat-1 was used as the medium-density treatment, and the low- and high-density treatments had respectively 10 thalli quadrat-1 and 38 thalli quadrat-1. Each individual was tagged and monitored for two months (December 2019 to January 2020) in order to determine the recruitment and mortality rates. Alizarin Red-S marking was used to indicate the growth and CaCO3 accumulation of H. macroloba. Our results revealed that no significant difference in recruitment and mortality rates were observed among the three treatments. However, the growth and CaCO3 accumulation rates in the low-density treatment appeared to be higher than those of high-density treatments. The area of the low-density treatment showed the highest growth rate and CaCO3 accumulation rate with 37.27±3.21 mg thallus-1 day-1 and 36.72±0.7 mg CaCO3 thallus-1 day-1, respectively. In conclusion, this work provides basic knowledge of population density of macrophytic green alga H. macroloba in relation to its growth and CaCO3 accumulation. Further investigation on other ecological and physiological parameters would help understanding the effect of density on growth and CaCO3 production in marine ecosystem of Lidee Island, Satun Province.
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