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A preliminary study of algal turf communities of a shallow coral reef lagoon using an artificial substratum
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A preliminary study of algal turf communities of a shallow coral reef lagoon using an artificial substratum

M.A. Borowitzka, A.W.D. Larkum and L.J. Borowitzka
Aquatic Botany, Vol.5(C), pp.365-381
1978
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(78)90077-3
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Abstract

The growth, productivity and species composition of algal turf communities growing on glass microscope slides at various sites in the lagoon of One Tree Island,Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia (23° 30′ S, 152° 06′ E) were measured, and the possible use of algal communities growing on artificial substrates for ecological studies was assessed. Colonization of the bare glass slides by bacteria, green and blue-green algae was rapid. After 3 months, the slides had become covered by filamentous and crustose algae [e.g. Sphacelaria tribuloides Meneghini, Herposiphonia tenella (C. Agardh) Naegeli, Tenarea sp. etc.] and invertebrates (e.g. Spirorbis sp.). Crustose coralline algae settled evenly over the surface of the slide but were soon removed from the slide centre by grazing fish. Eventually, thicker crustose corallines [e.g. Porolithon onkodes (Heydrich) Foslie] from the less grazed edges of these slides began to overgrow the slides, providing a different substrate for growth of algal species such as Lophosiphonia spp. and Laurencia papillosa (Forsskål) Greville, etc. Various differences in species composition were observed between the different sites and depths. In general, the glass slide communities were less diverse than those on nearby natural substrates, presumably due to the hardness of the glass slides.

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