Comunidades de macroalgas en puntas rocosas de la costa de Rocha, Uruguay
2018; Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay; Volume: 14; Linguagem: Inglês
10.26461/14.07
ISSN1688-6593
Autores Tópico(s)Coastal and Marine Management
ResumoMacroalgal communities are fundamental for marine ecosystems and very sensitive to environmental changes (e.g temperature, salinity). The Uruguayan Atlantic coast represents a transition between subtropical and subantarctic phycoflora and therefore has a key role to the regional biogeography of macroalgae. The objective of this study was to analyze the macroalgal community richness and biomass, its spatial distribution and its changes along diverse environmental gradients in rocky outcrops of Rocha coast (33°S; 54°W), Uruguay. Two samplings were carried out (summer and winter) in rocky shores of Cerro Verde (La Coronilla), Cerro Rivero (Punta del Diablo) and El Cabito (La Paloma). Transects were used to cover different microhabitats and depths, environmental variables were measured and samples collected. A total of 36 taxa were identified (21 Rhodophyta, 11 Chlorophyta and 4 Ochrophyta). The species richness and biomass were higher in summer for every site, with communities dominated by subtropical species. Temperature was a key modulating factor. For all the species, 50 % were previously registered in previous literature for Uruguay and Ulva spp. complex (Chlorophyta) was the most frequent. Ochrophyta were less frequent being associated with cold and clear waters. Present results provide a basis for the macroalgae management of the Uruguayan coast, reopening a line for future research in the subject.
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