I a FLORISTIC ANALYSIS of the MARINE ALGAE and SEAGRASSES BETWEEN CAPE MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA and CAPE BLANCO, OREGON by Simona A
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A FLORISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE MARINE ALGAE AND SEAGRASSES BETWEEN CAPE MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA AND CAPE BLANCO, OREGON By Simona Augytė A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Biology December, 2011 [Type a quote from the [Type a quotedocument from theor the document or the summarysummary ofi ofan aninteresting point. Youinteresting can position point. the text box anywhereYou can in theposition document. Use the Textthe textBox Toolsbox tab to change theanywhere formatting in the of the pull quote textdocument. box.] Use the Text Box A FLORISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE MARINE ALGAE AND SEAGRASSES BETWEEN CAPE MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA AND CAPE BLANCO, OREGON By Simona Augytė We certify that we have read this study and that it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully acceptable, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Frank J. Shaughnessy, Major Professor Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Erik S. Jules, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Sarah Goldthwait, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Michael R. Mesler, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Michael R. Mesler, Graduate Coordinator Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jená Burges, Vice Provost Date [Type a quote from the document or the summaryii of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Text Box ABSTRACT A FLORISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE MARINE ALGAE AND SEAGRASSES BETWEEN CAPE MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA AND CAPE BLANCO, OREGON Simona Augytė The biogeographic area between Cape Mendocino, California and Cape Blanco, Oregon spans over 320 km and is characterized by prominent coastal headlands that act as genetic and species barriers for marine organisms. Because of a lack of a current macroalgal species list for this area, this study aimed to (i) compare patterns of intertidal macroalgal species composition for the poorly described coastline at four sites, and to (ii) compile a macroalgal and seagrass flora based on current findings and historical records. Collections were made in the spring and summers of 2010 and basic ecological habitat attributes for each species were recorded. Similarities in the macroalgal composition across the four sites were investigated using hierarchical clustering based on a presence/absence matrix for each species. A total of 162 species of marine macroalgae (103 Rhodophyta, 33 Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae, and 26 Chlorophyta) and 2 species of seagrasses (Anthophyta) were identified. The sites formed a latitudinal gradient of similarity; the two northern sites clustered together as did the two southern sites. Across all four sites, more than half of the taxa were found in the low intertidal. The iii within site comparison of taxa based on zonation revealed that Crescent City differered from the other three sites. One near-endemic species, Cumathamnion sympodophyllum M.J. Wynne & K. Daniels, and one invasive species, Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt were found. Combined with historical accounts, the macroalgal flora between the Capes consists of 322 macroalgal taxa (201 Rhodophyta, 70 Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae, and 51 Chlorophyta) and 4 species of seagrasses. The results indicate a relatively high area of biodiversity of 134 species per degree latitude. The Cheney ratio designation is a cold-temperate flora with closer affinities to Oregon and Washington than to southern California. In comparison to historical records by Dawson and Doty, seven new records were found. Furthermore, Dawson and Doty’s floras list 87 species that were not found, the discrepancy laying either in sampling efficiency or recent range shifts. This study was a first attempt to characterize the marine flora between Cape Mendocino and Cape Blanco and suggests that the capes act as a biogeographic barrier and important transition zone for some species of macroalgae in the Northeast Pacific. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my gratitude to my major advisor Dr. Frank J. Shaughnessy for giving me this opportunity to conduct research in one of the most fascinating ecosystems in the world - the marine intertidal. The support from the rest of my committee, Dr. Michael Mesler, Dr. Erik Jules, and Dr. Sarah Goldthwait was invaluable. The statistical analysis could not have been done without the help of professor Dr. Rob VanKirk. Additionally, I would like to thank a few phycologists who have given advice on current algal taxonomy, distribution ranges, and species identification including Dr. Paul Gabrielson, Dr. Sandra Lindstrom, and Dr. Charles O’Kelly. I would also like to thank my phycology lab members Greg O’Connell, Bethany Baibak, Andrew Weltz, and Jose Montoya for keeping up high spirits; my field and lab assistants, Parisa Eskandari, Samatha Downs, and Jaime McClain; Autumn Reid for immense help with formatting; and Anthony Baker for field supplies. Lastly, I would like to thank my lovely family. This research was supported by grants from the Department of Biological Sciences at Humboldt State University. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF APPENDICIES .................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................10 METHODS AND MATERIALS .......................................................................................19 Site description...................................................................................................................19 Developing the macroalgal and seagrass flora .................................................................22 RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................26 Among and within site comparisons ..................................................................................26 The cape to cape flora........................................................................................................28 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................29 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................................35 TABLES ............................................................................................................................41 FIGURES ...........................................................................................................................43 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................49 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Collection information for each site and transect, including GPS coordinates, height of the low tide on the sampling date, and County name. Latitude and longitude are in the WGS-84 datum. ................................................................................................................ 41 2 Species richness per degree latitude for different but overlapping segments of the Northeast Pacific coastline. ............................................................................................... 42 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Map of the four study locations. .............................................................................. 43 2 Number of seaweed and seagrass taxa found at each of the four locations for the 2010 field season grouped by phylum. ............................................................................. 44 3 Cluster analysis dendrogram based on farthest neighbor joining methods showing locations arranged by presence/absence of species. ......................................................... 45 4 Percentage of species in each zone for each site. ..................................................... 46 5 Cluster analysis dendrograms based on farthest neighbor joining methods of four intertidal zones grouped by species within each of the sites. ........................................... 47 6 Number and percent of macroalgae and seagrasses species from Cape Mendocino, CA to Cape Blanco, OR grouped by phylum based on current and historical records (Appendix B). ................................................................................................................... 48 viii ix LIST OF APPENDICIES Appendix Page A Marine macroalgae and seagrasses taxa between Cape Mendocino and Cape Blanco found during 2009 and 2010. Taxa are arranged by phylum. The four survey locations (Cape Blanco, Crescent City, Trinidad and Cape Mendocino)