Comparison of growth and nutrient uptake capacities of three dominant species of Qinhuangdao green tides

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 114 - 123
• Main Authors: Han, Hongbin, Wen, Ruobing, Wang, Hui, Zhao, Sheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2023; Springer Nature B.V; North China Sea Ecological Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources,Qingdao 266033,China; Key Laboratory of Ecological Prewarning,Protection and Restoration of Bohai Sea,Ministry of Natural Resources,Qingdao 266033,China
• Subjects: Algae; Ammonium; Ammonium compounds; Biomass; Blepharizonia plumosa; Blooms; Climatology; Dominant species; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecological effects; Ecological succession; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental factors; Green tides; Growth rate; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Nutrient uptake; Nutrients; Oceanography; Offshore; Phosphates; Substrates; Temperature effects; Temperature variations; Tides; Tourism; Ulva prolifera; Uptake; Qinhuangdao; growth; dominant specie; green tide; nutrient uptake
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-022-2100-7

Since 2015, green tides have been blooming in offshore waters of Qinhuangdao, with serious impacts on the local ecological environment and tourism. Ulva australis, Bryopsis plumosa , and U. prolifera are the dominant species of Qinhuangdao green tides, following a sequential succession pattern. Ulva prolifera is the dominant species, with the highest biomass and the greatest influence on the local ecological environment. To study the reason of green tide dominant species succession and U. profilera became the dominant species with the largest biomass, we compared and analyzed the growth and nutrient uptake capacity of the three algae. The results showed that temperature significantly affects the growth of the three species. Within the temperature range of the experimental setup, the optimum temperature for the growth of U. australis , B. plumosa and U. profilera is 10°C, 15°C, and 20–25°C, respectively. Combined with the temperature variation trend during green tide bloom development, we believe that temperature is the key environmental factor for the succession of the dominant species. Ulva prolifera has a higher growth rate than U. australis and B. plumosa under the same nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate levels. Significant differences in the maximum absorption rate ( R max ) and R max / K s (the relationship between uptake rate and substrate concentration) values indicated that U. prolifera had an apparent competitive advantage over U. australis and B. plumosa regarding nutrient uptake. Therefore, the strong growth and nutrient uptake capacities of U. prolifera might be the main reason for becoming the dominant species with the largest biomass in Qinhuangdao green tides.