Community structure and carbonate production of a temperate rhodolith bank from Arvoredo Island, southern Brazil

Gherardi, Douglas F. M.

Abstracts

A small (100,000 m²) rhodolith bank located at the Arvoredo Marine Biological Reserve (Santa Catarina, Brazil) has been surveyed to determine the main bank components, the community structure, and carbonate production rates. Data from five photographic transects perpendicular to Arvoredo Island shore were complemented with sediment samples and shallow cores, all collected by scuba diving. The main bank component is the unattached, nongeniculate, coralline red algae Lithophyllum sp., used as substrate by the zoanthid Zoanthus sp. Percentage cover of living and dead coralline algae, zoanthids and sediment patches account for nearly 98% of the investigated area. Classification and ordination of samples showed that differences in the proportion of live and dead thalli of Lithophyllum sp. determine the relative abundances of zoanthids. Results also indicate that similarity of samples is high and community gradients are subtle. Significant differences in percentage cover along transects are concentrated in the central portion of the bank. Low carbonate content of sediments from deeper samples suggests low rates of recruitment and dispersal of coralline algae via fragmentation. However, carbonate production of Lithophyllum sp ranging from 55-136.3 g m-2 yr-1 agrees with production rates reported for other temperate settings. In the long run, rhodolith density at Arvoredo Is. is likely to be dependent upon random dispersal of spores and/or fragments from other source areas.

Community structure; Rhodolith bank; Carbonate production

Investigou-se um pequeno (100,000 m²) banco de rodolitos localizado na Reserva Biológica Marinha do Arvoredo (Santa Catarina, Brasil) para se determinar os pricipais componentes do banco, a estrutura da comunidade e a produção de carbonato de cálcio. Dados de cobertura relativa foram obtidos ao longo de cinco transectos fotográficos perpendiculares à ilha do Arvoredo, e complementados com amostras de sedimento superficial e testemunhos rasos. O principal componente do banco é a alga calcária não articulada, de vida livre, Lithophyllum sp., que é usada como substrato pelo zoantídeo Zoanthus sp. A cobertura relativa de algas vivas, mortas, zoantídeos e manchas de sedimento perfazem quase 98 % da superfície investigada. A classificação e ordenação das amostras mostrou que diferenças nas proporções de talo vivo e morto de Lithophyllum sp. determinam a abundância relativa de zoantídeos. Os resultados também indicam que a similaridade entre as amostras é alta e que gradientes da comunidade são sutis. Diferenças significativas da cobertura relativa ao longo dos transectos concentram-se na porção central do banco. A baixa concentração de carbonato de cálcio nos sedimentos mais profundos sugere baixo recrutamento por fragmentação. Entretanto, a taxa de produção de carbonato de cálcio determinada entre 55-136.3 g m-2 yr-1 encontra-se dentro da faixa observada para outros ambientes temperados. No longo prazo, a densidade de rodolitos da ilha do Arvoredo pode depender da dispersão aleatória de esporos e/ou fragmentos de outras áreas fonte.

Estrutura da comunidade; Rodolitos; Produção de carbonato

Adey, W. H. 1986. Coralline algae as indicators of sea level. In: van de Plassche, O. ed. Sea-Level Research: a manual for the collection and evaluation of data. England, Geo Books. p. 229-280.
Bak, R. P. M. & Povel, G. D. E. 1989. Ecological variables, including physiognomic-structural attributes, and classification of Indonesian coral reefs. Neth. J. Sea Res., 23:95-106.
Bascompte, J.; Possingham, H. & Roughgarden, J. 2002. Patchy populations in stochastic environments: critical number of patches for persistence. Am. Nat., 159:128-137.
Bosence, D. W. J. 1976. Ecological studies on two unattached coralline algae from western Ireland. Palaeontology, 19:365-395.
Bosence, D. W. J. 1980. Sedimentary facies, production rates and facies models for recent coralline algal gravels, Co. Galway, Ireland. Geol. J., 15:91-111.
Bosence, D. W. J. 1985. The morphology and ecology of a mound-building coralline alga (Neogoniolithon strictum) from the Florida keys. Palaeontology, 28:189-206.
Boss, S. K. & Liddell, W. D. 1987. Back-reef and fore-reef analogs in the Pleistocene of North Jamaica: implications for facies recognition and sediment flux in fossil reefs. Palaios, 2:219-228.
Breitburg, D. L. 1984. Residual effects of grazing inhibition of competitor recruitment by encrusting coralline algae: Ecology, 65:1136-1143.
Caley, M. J.; Carr, M. H.; Hixon, M. A.; Hughes, T. P.; Jones, G. P. & Menge, B. A. 1996. Recruitment and the local dynamics of open marine populations. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 27:477-500.
Carrol, C. R. & Meffe, G. K. 1997. Management to meet conservation goals: general principles. In: Meffe, G. K. & Carrol, C. R., eds. Principles of conservation Biology. Massachusetts, Sinauer Associates p. 347-384.
Clarke, K. R. 1993. Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Aust. J. Ecol., 18:117-143.
Clarke, K. R. & Ainsworth, M. 1993. A method of linking multivariate community structure to environmental variables. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 92:205-219.
Clarke, K. R. & Green, R. H. 1988. Statistical design and analysis for a "biological effects" study. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 46:213-226.
Clarke, K. R.; Warwick, R. M. & Brown, B. E. 1993. An index showing breakdown of seriation, related to disturbance, in a coral-reef assemblage. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 102:153-160.
Dethier, M. N.; McDonald, K. & Strathmann, R. R. 2003. Colonization and connectivity of habitat patches for coastal marine species distant from source populations. Conserv. Biol., 17:1024-1035.
Dias, G. T. M. 2000. Granulados biclásticos-algas calcárias. Braz. J. Geophys., 18:307-318.
Engel, J. & Kvitek, R. 1998. Effects of otter trawling on a benthic community in Monterey Bay National marine Sanctuary. Conserv. Biol. 12:1204-1214.
Figueiredo, M. A. de O.; Norton, T. A. & Kain, J. M. 1997. Settlement and survival of epiphytes on two intertidal crustose coralline alga. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 213:247-260.
Folk, R. L. 1980. Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Texas, Hemphill Publishing Company. p. 184.
Foster, M. S.; Harrold, C. & Hardin, D. D. 1991. Point vs. photo quadrat estimates of cover of marine organisms. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 146:193-203.
Foster, M. S. 2001. Rhodoliths: between rocks and soft places. J. Phycol., 37:659-667.
França, A. M. C.; Coutinho, P. N. & Summerhayes, C. P. 1976. Sedimentos superficiais da margem continental nordeste brasileira. Rev. Bras. Geoc., 6:71-88.
Freiwald, A. & Henrich, R. 1994. Reefal coralline algal build-ups within the Artic Circle: morphology and sedimentary dynamics under extreme environmental seasonality. Sedimentology, 41:963-984.
Gherardi, D. F. M. & Bosence, D. W. J. 1999. Modeling of the Ecological Succession of Encrusting Organisms in Recent Coralline-Algal Frameworks from Atol das Rocas, Brazil. Palaios, 14:145-158.
Gherardi, D. F. M. & Bosence, D. W. J. 2001. Composition and community structure of the coralline-algal reefs from Atol das Rocas, South Atlantic, Brazil. Coral Reefs, 19:205-219.
Hanski, I. A. 1997. Metapopulation dynamics: from concepts and observations to preditive models. In: Hanski, I. A. & Gilpin, M. E. eds. Metapopulation biology. Ecology, genetics, and evolution. San Diego, Academic Press. p. 69-91.
Holt, R. D. & Loureau, M. 2002. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: the role of trophic interactions and the importance of system openness. In: Kinzig, A. P.; Pacala, S. W. & Tilman, D. eds. The functional consequences of biodiversity. Monographs in population biology 33, New Jersey, Princeton University press, p. 246-262.
IBAMA. 1996. Macrodiagnóstico da zona costeira do Brasil na escala da União. Brasília, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis. 280 p.
Itoh, N.; Hasan, A. K. M.; Izumi, I. & Yamada, H. 1987. Immunological properties of bromoperoxidases in coralline algae. Biochem. Int. 15:27-33.
Jackson, J. B. C.; Budd, A. F. & Pandolfi, J. M. 1996. The shifting balance of natural communities? In: Jablonski, D.; Erwin D. H. & Lipps J. H. eds. Evolutionary Paleobiology. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. p. 89-122.
Johnson, R. A. & Wichern, D. W. 1992. Applied multivariate statistical analysis. New Jersey, Prentice Hall. p. 1-642.
Jongman, R. H. G.; Ter Braak, C. J. F. & Van Tongeren, O. F. R. 1995. Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 299p.
Karlson, R. H. 1988. Size-dependent growth in two zoanthid species: a contrast in clonal strategies. Ecology, 69:1219-1232.
Keats, D. W.; Groener, A. & Chamberlain, Y. M. 1993. Cell sloughing in the litoral zone coralline algae, Spongites yendoi (Foslie) Chamberlain (Corallinales, Rhodophyta). Phycologia, 32:143-150.
Keats, D. W.; Wilton, P. & Maneveldt, G. 1994. Ecological significance of deep-layer sloughing in the eullitoral zone coralline alga, Spongites yendoi (Foslie) Chamberlain (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in South Africa. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 175:145-154.
Liddell, W. D. & Ohlhorst, S. L. 1987. Patterns of reef community structure, North Jamaica. Bull. Mar. Sci., 40:311-329.
Liddell, W. D. & Ohlhorst, S. L. 1988. Hard substrata community patterns, 1-120 M, North Jamaica. Palaios, 3:413-423.
Masaki, T.; Fujita, D. & Hagen, N. T. 1984. The ultrastructure of epithallium shedding of crustose coralline algae in an "isoyake" area of southwestern Hokkaido, Japan. Hydrobiologia, 117:219-223.
Nimer, E. 1989. Climatologia do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE. 421 p.
Pachut, J. F.; Cuffey, R. J. & Kobluk, D. R. 1995. Depth-related associations of cryptic-habitat bryozoans from the leeward fringing reef of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Palaios, 10:254-267.
Patzkowsky, M. E. 1995. Gradient analysis of middle Ordovician brachiopod biofacies: biostratigraphic, biogeographic, and macroevolutionary implications. Palaios, 10:154-179.
Rivera, M. G.; Riosmena-Rodriguez, R. & Foster, M. S. 2004. Age and growth of Lithothamnion muelleri (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in the southwestern Gulf of California, Mexico. Ciencias Marinas, 30:235-249.
Schaeffer, T. N.; Smith, G. J.; Foster, M. S. & DeTomaso, A. 2002. Genetic differences between two growth-forms of Lithophyllum margaritae (Rhodophyta) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. J. Phycol., 38:1090-1098.
Stemann, T. A. & Johnson, K. G. 1992. Coral assemblages, biofacies, and ecological zones in the mid-Holocene reef deposits of the Enriquillo Valley, Dominican Republic. Lethaia, 25:231-141.
Tanner, J. E.; Hughes, T. P. & Connell, J. H. 1994. Species coexistence, keystone species, and succession: a sensitivity analysis. Ecology, 75:2204-2219.
Vicalvi, M. A. & Milliman, J. D. 1977. Calcium carbonate sedimentation on Continental Shelf off Southern Brazil, with special reference to benthic foraminifera. In: Reefs and related carbonates ecology and sedimentology. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., Studies in Geology, no. 4. p. 313-328.
Warwick, R. M. & Clarke, K. R. 1993. Comparing the severity of disturbance: a meta-analysis of marine macrobenthic community data. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 92: 221-231.
Woelkerling, W. J. 1988. The Coralline Red Algae: an analysis of the genera and subfamilies of nongeniculate Corallinaceae BM(NH). Oxford, Oxford Press. 268 p.
Woelkerling, W. J. & Campbell, S. J. 1992. An account of southern Australia species of Lithophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta). Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist., Botany series, 22:1-107.
Zenetos, A. 1991. Re-evaluation of numerical classification methods for delimiting biofacies and biotopes in an estuarine environment. Lethaia, 24:13-26.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
23 Jan 2009
Date of issue
Dec 2004

History

Accepted
17 Nov 2004
Reviewed
23 Sept 2004
Received
26 July 2004

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] Adey, W. H. 1986. Coralline algae as indicators of sea level. In: van de Plassche, O. ed. Sea-Level Research: a manual for the collection and evaluation of data. England, Geo Books. p. 229-280.

[2] Bak, R. P. M. & Povel, G. D. E. 1989. Ecological variables, including physiognomic-structural attributes, and classification of Indonesian coral reefs. Neth. J. Sea Res., 23:95-106.

[3] Bascompte, J.; Possingham, H. & Roughgarden, J. 2002. Patchy populations in stochastic environments: critical number of patches for persistence. Am. Nat., 159:128-137.

[4] Bosence, D. W. J. 1976. Ecological studies on two unattached coralline algae from western Ireland. Palaeontology, 19:365-395.

[5] Bosence, D. W. J. 1980. Sedimentary facies, production rates and facies models for recent coralline algal gravels, Co. Galway, Ireland. Geol. J., 15:91-111.

[6] Bosence, D. W. J. 1985. The morphology and ecology of a mound-building coralline alga (Neogoniolithon strictum) from the Florida keys. Palaeontology, 28:189-206.

[7] Boss, S. K. & Liddell, W. D. 1987. Back-reef and fore-reef analogs in the Pleistocene of North Jamaica: implications for facies recognition and sediment flux in fossil reefs. Palaios, 2:219-228.

[8] Breitburg, D. L. 1984. Residual effects of grazing inhibition of competitor recruitment by encrusting coralline algae: Ecology, 65:1136-1143.

[9] Caley, M. J.; Carr, M. H.; Hixon, M. A.; Hughes, T. P.; Jones, G. P. & Menge, B. A. 1996. Recruitment and the local dynamics of open marine populations. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 27:477-500.

[10] Carrol, C. R. & Meffe, G. K. 1997. Management to meet conservation goals: general principles. In: Meffe, G. K. & Carrol, C. R., eds. Principles of conservation Biology. Massachusetts, Sinauer Associates p. 347-384.

[11] Clarke, K. R. 1993. Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Aust. J. Ecol., 18:117-143.

[12] Clarke, K. R. & Ainsworth, M. 1993. A method of linking multivariate community structure to environmental variables. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 92:205-219.

[13] Clarke, K. R. & Green, R. H. 1988. Statistical design and analysis for a "biological effects" study. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 46:213-226.

[14] Clarke, K. R.; Warwick, R. M. & Brown, B. E. 1993. An index showing breakdown of seriation, related to disturbance, in a coral-reef assemblage. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 102:153-160.

[15] Dethier, M. N.; McDonald, K. & Strathmann, R. R. 2003. Colonization and connectivity of habitat patches for coastal marine species distant from source populations. Conserv. Biol., 17:1024-1035.

[16] Dias, G. T. M. 2000. Granulados biclásticos-algas calcárias. Braz. J. Geophys., 18:307-318.

[17] Engel, J. & Kvitek, R. 1998. Effects of otter trawling on a benthic community in Monterey Bay National marine Sanctuary. Conserv. Biol. 12:1204-1214.

[18] Figueiredo, M. A. de O.; Norton, T. A. & Kain, J. M. 1997. Settlement and survival of epiphytes on two intertidal crustose coralline alga. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 213:247-260.

[19] Folk, R. L. 1980. Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Texas, Hemphill Publishing Company. p. 184.

[20] Foster, M. S.; Harrold, C. & Hardin, D. D. 1991. Point vs. photo quadrat estimates of cover of marine organisms. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 146:193-203.

[21] Foster, M. S. 2001. Rhodoliths: between rocks and soft places. J. Phycol., 37:659-667.

[22] França, A. M. C.; Coutinho, P. N. & Summerhayes, C. P. 1976. Sedimentos superficiais da margem continental nordeste brasileira. Rev. Bras. Geoc., 6:71-88.

[23] Freiwald, A. & Henrich, R. 1994. Reefal coralline algal build-ups within the Artic Circle: morphology and sedimentary dynamics under extreme environmental seasonality. Sedimentology, 41:963-984.

[24] Gherardi, D. F. M. & Bosence, D. W. J. 1999. Modeling of the Ecological Succession of Encrusting Organisms in Recent Coralline-Algal Frameworks from Atol das Rocas, Brazil. Palaios, 14:145-158.

[25] Gherardi, D. F. M. & Bosence, D. W. J. 2001. Composition and community structure of the coralline-algal reefs from Atol das Rocas, South Atlantic, Brazil. Coral Reefs, 19:205-219.

[26] Hanski, I. A. 1997. Metapopulation dynamics: from concepts and observations to preditive models. In: Hanski, I. A. & Gilpin, M. E. eds. Metapopulation biology. Ecology, genetics, and evolution. San Diego, Academic Press. p. 69-91.

[27] Holt, R. D. & Loureau, M. 2002. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: the role of trophic interactions and the importance of system openness. In: Kinzig, A. P.; Pacala, S. W. & Tilman, D. eds. The functional consequences of biodiversity. Monographs in population biology 33, New Jersey, Princeton University press, p. 246-262.

[28] IBAMA. 1996. Macrodiagnóstico da zona costeira do Brasil na escala da União. Brasília, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis. 280 p.

[29] Itoh, N.; Hasan, A. K. M.; Izumi, I. & Yamada, H. 1987. Immunological properties of bromoperoxidases in coralline algae. Biochem. Int. 15:27-33.

[30] Jackson, J. B. C.; Budd, A. F. & Pandolfi, J. M. 1996. The shifting balance of natural communities? In: Jablonski, D.; Erwin D. H. & Lipps J. H. eds. Evolutionary Paleobiology. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. p. 89-122.

[31] Johnson, R. A. & Wichern, D. W. 1992. Applied multivariate statistical analysis. New Jersey, Prentice Hall. p. 1-642.

[32] Jongman, R. H. G.; Ter Braak, C. J. F. & Van Tongeren, O. F. R. 1995. Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 299p.

[33] Karlson, R. H. 1988. Size-dependent growth in two zoanthid species: a contrast in clonal strategies. Ecology, 69:1219-1232.

[34] Keats, D. W.; Groener, A. & Chamberlain, Y. M. 1993. Cell sloughing in the litoral zone coralline algae, Spongites yendoi (Foslie) Chamberlain (Corallinales, Rhodophyta). Phycologia, 32:143-150.

[35] Keats, D. W.; Wilton, P. & Maneveldt, G. 1994. Ecological significance of deep-layer sloughing in the eullitoral zone coralline alga, Spongites yendoi (Foslie) Chamberlain (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in South Africa. J. expl. mar. Biol. Ecol., 175:145-154.

[36] Liddell, W. D. & Ohlhorst, S. L. 1987. Patterns of reef community structure, North Jamaica. Bull. Mar. Sci., 40:311-329.

[37] Liddell, W. D. & Ohlhorst, S. L. 1988. Hard substrata community patterns, 1-120 M, North Jamaica. Palaios, 3:413-423.

[38] Masaki, T.; Fujita, D. & Hagen, N. T. 1984. The ultrastructure of epithallium shedding of crustose coralline algae in an "isoyake" area of southwestern Hokkaido, Japan. Hydrobiologia, 117:219-223.

[39] Nimer, E. 1989. Climatologia do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE. 421 p.

[40] Pachut, J. F.; Cuffey, R. J. & Kobluk, D. R. 1995. Depth-related associations of cryptic-habitat bryozoans from the leeward fringing reef of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Palaios, 10:254-267.

[41] Patzkowsky, M. E. 1995. Gradient analysis of middle Ordovician brachiopod biofacies: biostratigraphic, biogeographic, and macroevolutionary implications. Palaios, 10:154-179.

[42] Rivera, M. G.; Riosmena-Rodriguez, R. & Foster, M. S. 2004. Age and growth of Lithothamnion muelleri (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in the southwestern Gulf of California, Mexico. Ciencias Marinas, 30:235-249.

[43] Schaeffer, T. N.; Smith, G. J.; Foster, M. S. & DeTomaso, A. 2002. Genetic differences between two growth-forms of Lithophyllum margaritae (Rhodophyta) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. J. Phycol., 38:1090-1098.

[44] Stemann, T. A. & Johnson, K. G. 1992. Coral assemblages, biofacies, and ecological zones in the mid-Holocene reef deposits of the Enriquillo Valley, Dominican Republic. Lethaia, 25:231-141.

[45] Tanner, J. E.; Hughes, T. P. & Connell, J. H. 1994. Species coexistence, keystone species, and succession: a sensitivity analysis. Ecology, 75:2204-2219.

[46] Vicalvi, M. A. & Milliman, J. D. 1977. Calcium carbonate sedimentation on Continental Shelf off Southern Brazil, with special reference to benthic foraminifera. In: Reefs and related carbonates ecology and sedimentology. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., Studies in Geology, no. 4. p. 313-328.

[47] Warwick, R. M. & Clarke, K. R. 1993. Comparing the severity of disturbance: a meta-analysis of marine macrobenthic community data. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 92: 221-231.

[48] Woelkerling, W. J. 1988. The Coralline Red Algae: an analysis of the genera and subfamilies of nongeniculate Corallinaceae BM(NH). Oxford, Oxford Press. 268 p.

[49] Woelkerling, W. J. & Campbell, S. J. 1992. An account of southern Australia species of Lithophyllum (Corallinaceae, Rhodophyta). Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist., Botany series, 22:1-107.

[50] Zenetos, A. 1991. Re-evaluation of numerical classification methods for delimiting biofacies and biotopes in an estuarine environment. Lethaia, 24:13-26.