Tracing the origin of green macroalgal blooms based on the large scale spatio-temporal distribution of Ulva microscopic propagules and settled mature Ulva vegetative thalli in coastal regions of the Yellow Sea, China

Yuanzi Huo; Hongbin Han; Liang Hua; Zhangliang Wei; Kefeng Yu; Honghua Shi; Jang Kyun Kim; Charles Yarish; Peimin He

doi:10.1016/j.hal.2016.09.005

Tracing the origin of green macroalgal blooms based on the large scale spatio-temporal distribution of Ulva microscopic propagules and settled mature Ulva vegetative thalli in coastal regions of the Yellow Sea, China

Harmful Algae. 2016 Nov:59:91-99. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2016.09.005. Epub 2016 Oct 13.

Authors

Yuanzi Huo¹, Hongbin Han², Liang Hua², Zhangliang Wei², Kefeng Yu², Honghua Shi³, Jang Kyun Kim⁴, Charles Yarish⁵, Peimin He⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China; The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Qingdao, Shandong Province 266061, PR China; Maine Scientific Research Institute, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901, USA.
² College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China; Maine Scientific Research Institute, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China.
³ The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Qingdao, Shandong Province 266061, PR China.
⁴ Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901, USA; Department of Marine Science, School of Natural Sciences, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901, USA.
⁶ College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China; Maine Scientific Research Institute, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China. Electronic address: pmhe@shou.edu.cn.

PMID: 28073510
DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2016.09.005

Abstract

From 2008 to 2016, massive floating green macroalgal blooms occurred annually during the summer months in the Yellow Sea. The original source of these blooms was traced based on the spatio-temporal distribution and species composition of Ulva microscopic propagules and settled Ulva vegetative thalli monthly from December 2012 to May 2013 in the Yellow Sea. High quantities of Ulva microscopic propagules in both the water column and sediments were found in the Pyropia aquaculture area along the Jiangsu coast before a green macroalgal bloom appeared in the Yellow Sea. The abundance of Ulva microscopic propagules was significantly lower in outer areas compared to in Pyropia aquaculture areas. A molecular phylogenetic analysis suggested that Ulva prolifera microscopic propagules were the dominant microscopic propagules present during the study period. The extremely low biomass of settled Ulva vegetative thalli along the coast indicated that somatic cells of settled Ulva vegetative thalli did not provide a propagule bank for the green macroalgal blooms in the Yellow Sea. The results of this study provide further supporting evidence that the floating green macroalgal blooms originate from green macroalgae attached to Pyropia aquaculture rafts along the Jiangsu coastline of the southern Yellow Sea.

Keywords: Green macroalgae; Green tides; Jiangsu Province; Parthenogametes; Pyropia aquaculture; Ulva prolifera.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aquaculture
China
Environmental Monitoring
Eutrophication / physiology*
Oceans and Seas
Phylogeny*
Ulva / genetics
Ulva / physiology*