Ulva macroalgae within local aquaculture ponds along the estuary of Dagu River, Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao

Jinlin Liu; Yichao Tong; Jing Xia; Yuqing Sun; Xiaohui Zhao; Jingyi Sun; Shuang Zhao; Minmin Zhuang; Jianheng Zhang; Peimin He

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113243

Ulva macroalgae within local aquaculture ponds along the estuary of Dagu River, Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jan:174:113243. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113243. Epub 2021 Dec 14.

Authors

Jinlin Liu¹, Yichao Tong², Jing Xia³, Yuqing Sun⁴, Xiaohui Zhao⁵, Jingyi Sun², Shuang Zhao⁶, Minmin Zhuang⁷, Jianheng Zhang⁸, Peimin He⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; North China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266033, China; East China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration, Shanghai 201206, China. Electronic address: 15721539745@139.com.
² College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
³ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
⁴ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; North China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266033, China.
⁵ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulic in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China.
⁶ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: 1099978653@qq.com.
⁷ State Key Lab of Estuarine & Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
⁸ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: jh-zhang@shou.edu.cn.
⁹ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: pmhe@shou.edu.cn.

PMID: 34920239
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113243

Abstract

Green macroalgal blooms caused by Ulva species have influenced the Shandong Province for 15 consecutive years since 2007, leading to serious damage to the marine environment. Great biomasses of attached Ulva prolifera on Neopyropia aquaculture rafts in the Yellow Sea were considered as sources of blooms. However, it is still unclear whether U. prolifera could survive and settle in the Qingdao coastal environment, Shandong, thus leading to local Ulva blooms in the future. In this research, sampling of Ulva macroalgae in seven Portunus trituberculatus aquaculture ponds along the coast of Qingdao was conducted on August 21, 2019. In total, 24 samples collected from the ponds were analyzed through methods of molecular biological identification (ITS, 5S, and rps2-trnL sequences) and genetic analysis. All the aquaculture ponds contained large amounts of floating Ulva macroalgae, which consisted of three species: U. prolifera, Ulva meridionalis, and Ulva pertusa. Among these species, U. meridionalis, which is usually found in southern Japan, also causes the green tide. In addition, all Ulva macroalgae floated on the surfaces of aquaculture ponds, and were discarded into the local coastal area by aquaculturist. This research raised our awareness of the importance of controlling the spread of the green tide related macroalgae.

Keywords: 5S; Green tide; ITS; Macroalgae; The Yellow Sea; Ulva meridionalis; Ulva pertusa; Ulva prolifera; rps2-trnL.

MeSH terms

Aquaculture
Bays
China
Estuaries
Eutrophication
Ponds
Rivers
Seaweed*
Ulva*