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Spatial patterns and seasonal fluctuations of intertidal macroalgal assemblages from Tarifa Island, southern Spain: relationship with associated Crustacea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2010

José M. Guerra-García ,
M. Pilar Cabezas ,
Elena Baeza-Rojano  and
J. Carlos García-Gómez
José M. Guerra-García*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
M. Pilar Cabezas
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
Elena Baeza-Rojano
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
J. Carlos García-Gómez
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.M. Guerra-García, Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida Reina Mercedes 6, 41012, Sevilla, Spain email: jmguerra@us.es
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Abstract

The dominant intertidal algal species from Tarifa Island, Strait of Gibraltar, together with the associated peracarid crustacean community, were studied over a two-year period (December 2005–December 2007). Gelidium corneum and Gymnogongrus patens were dominant at the lower levels, close to the subtidal. Valonia utricularis, Osmundea pinnatifida, a turf of Caulacanthus ustulatus and Gelidium spp., Corallina elongata and Jania rubens were distributed in intermediate levels, while Ulva rigida, Chaetomorpha aerea and Fucus spiralis were collected from upper levels. The main intertidal seaweeds of Tarifa Island showed a perennial behaviour, but maximum values of biomass were registered during late spring and beginning of summer for most of species while the highest seawater temperatures were measured in late summer and beginning of autumn. Corallina elongata and Jania rubens, the dominant species which shared a niche at platforms of intermediate levels, showed an opposite behaviour, probably to avoid competence: C. elongata showed higher biomass in April–June and lower values in August–October–December, while biomass of J. rubens was higher in December–February and lower in April–August. Associated crustaceans, including mainly amphipods (gammarids and caprellids) were also present throughout the whole year with similar seasonality to seaweeds. However, crustacean density in the intertidal was not only influenced by distribution of algae as substrate, but also by external factors, such as hydrodynamism, oxygen, weather conditions, competition or predation. The present study constitutes the first baseline study dealing with seasonal fluctuations of algae and associated crustaceans in a protected area of the Strait of Gibraltar, an important biogeographical zone between Europe and Africa and the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

Keywords

Crustaceaecologyintertidalseasonalityseaweedssouthern Spain
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 107 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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