Abstract
Ulva blooms are highly productive ephemeral communities that occur in coastal systems, associated with nutrient enrichment. The objective was to estimate variations in succession, cover, recruitment and length of Ulva species in four blooms and assess their relationship with environmental parameters in Bahía de La Paz, Baja California Sur. At each locality, monthly samplings were performed to register the presence, recruitment, length and cover of species, and temperature, salinity, turbidity and nutrient concentration in surface seawater from February 2013 to October 2015. The species found were Ulva acanthophora, Ulva clathratha, Ulva intestinalis, Ulva flexuosa, Ulva lactuca, Ulva lobata, Ulva nematoidea and Ulva rigida. The Ulva blooms in Casa del Marino, San Juan de la Costa and El Tecolote were multi-species, with U. rigida displaying the highest presence, cover and recruitment, followed by U. acanthophora. Significant differences were found between localities, years and months for biological and environmental factors. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed significant relationships between higher cover, recruitment and length with higher nutrients concentrations at San Juan de La Costa, Casa del Marino and El Tecolote, indicating favourable conditions that allowed rapid growth. The cover, recruitment and length of U. flexuosa at El Portugués were inversely correlated with temperature.
About the authors
Tonatiuh Chávez-Sánchez is a PhD candidate at the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. He obtained his MSc from the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste in 2012 for his research on macroalgal blooms and its relation to environmental parameters in Bahía de La Paz, Mexico. Currently, his research focuses in macroalgal blooms, particularly in recruitment and succession of Ulva bloom species related to nutrients supply and changes in hydrographic parameters.
Alejandra Piñón-Gimate is a Professor at the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Baja California Sur. Her research focuses on macroalgal blooms related to nutrient enrichment and stable isotope studies.
Elisa Serviere-Zaragoza obtained her Bachelor of Biology, Master’s and Doctor of Science from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She has been a titular researcher at Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico since 1994. Her interests include marine ecology, marine botany and trophic ecology in rocky reefs and, mainly, Macrocystis and Sargassum beds.
Alberto Sánchez-González is a professor at the Institute of Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), La Paz, Mexico. He was awarded a PhD in coastal oceanography by the Autonomous University of Baja California. He belongs to the EDI and COFAA programs of the IPN and the National System of Researchers. His research work focuses on marine biogeochemistry, stable isotopes and climate change of high resolution.
Gustavo Hernández-Carmona is a marine biologist and Professor at the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. He obtained his PhD from the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste. He has published 67 scientific papers and graduated 35 students at different levels. His specialty is the ecology of marine macroalgae, including Macrocystis, Sargassum, Gracilaria and other commercially important species. He also works on technologies for algal polysaccharides production such as alginate and agar. Recently he studied the production of seaweed liquid extracts as a biostimulant for agriculture and an alginate-encapsulated biofertilizer.
Margarita Casas-Valdez is a Professor at the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional in La Paz, Baja California Sur. Her research areas are ecology, and evaluation and use of macroalgae as animal feed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Efrain Flores Montaño for helping with the sample collection in the field and to Ángel Humberto Ruvalcaba Díaz for helping with the water analysis; Catalina Mendoza González and Dra. Luz Elena Mateo Cid for the taxonomical determination of Ulva species; Armando Hernández López for the figure edition; María Elena Sánchez for the English translation; and Diana Dorantes for editorial services in English. This study received funding from the projects Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)-CB154415, SIP2015-0355, SIP 2014-0132, SIP2014-4069 and SIP2015-1427; also COFAA, EDI and BEIFI scholarships by Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
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