Title
The variable routes of rafting: stranding dynamics of floating bull kelp Durvillaea antarctica (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) on beaches in the SE Pacific
Date Issued
01 February 2017
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
López B.
Macaya E.
Tala F.
Thiel M.
Publisher(s)
Wiley-Blackwell
Blackwell Publishing Inc.
Abstract
Dispersal on floating seaweeds depends on availability, viability, and trajectories of the rafts. In the southern hemisphere, the bull kelp Durvillaea antarctica is one of the most common floating seaweeds, but phylogeographic studies had shown low connectivity between populations from continental Chile, which could be due to limitations in local supply and dispersal of floating kelps. To test this hypothesis, the spatiotemporal dynamics of kelp strandings were examined in four biogeographic districts along the Chilean coast (28°–42°S). We determined the biomass and demography of stranded individuals on 33 beaches for three subsequent years (2013, 2014, 2015) to examine whether rafting is restricted to certain districts and seasons (winter or summer). Stranded kelps were found on all beaches. Most kelps had only one stipe (one individual), although we also frequently found coalesced holdfasts with mature males and females, which would facilitate successful rafting dispersal, gamete release, and reproduction upon arrival. High biomasses of stranded kelps occurred in the northern-central (30°S–33°S) and southernmost districts (37°S–42°S), and lower biomasses in the northernmost (28°S–30°S) and southern-central districts (33°S–37°S). The highest percentages and sizes of epibionts (Lepas spp.), indicative of prolonged floating periods, were found on stranded kelps in the northernmost and southernmost districts. Based on these results, we conclude that rafting dispersal can vary regionally, being more common in the northernmost and southernmost districts, depending on intrinsic (seaweed biology) and extrinsic factors (shore morphology and oceanography) that affect local supply of kelps and regional hydrodynamics.
Start page
70
End page
84
Volume
53
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de las plantas, Botánica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85006280104
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Phycology
ISSN of the container
00223646
Sponsor(s)
This study was financed by CONICYT/FONDECYT 1131082 to M.T., F. Tellier and F. Tala and PhD-fellowship Beca CONICYT-PCHA/DoctoradoNacional/2014-21140010 to BL. We wish to express our gratitude to Óscar Pino, Vieia Villalobos, José Pantoja, Alvaro Gallardo, Ulyces Urtubia, Felipe Sáez, Tim Kiessling, and Callum Blake for their excellent field and laboratory assistance. We also thank them for companionship on lengthy field trips and especially our friends in southern Chile for hosting us after exhausting days on the beach. Comments from Lars Gutow and an anonymous referee helped to improve the original manuscript. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus