Evidence against a mechanism of allelopathy in the green alga Chlorodesmis fastigiata
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Biochemistry, Ecology, Marine Biology
- Keywords
- Coral bleaching, Allelopathy, Chlorodesmis fastigiata, Photosynthesis, Respirometry, Moorea, French Polynesia, Reef ecology
- Copyright
- © 2017 Kumler
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2017. Evidence against a mechanism of allelopathy in the green alga Chlorodesmis fastigiata. PeerJ Preprints 5:e2700v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2700v1
Abstract
Allelopathic macroalgae have been shown to have significant negative effects on corals via the transfer of toxic compounds. The interaction that takes place between allelopathic macroalgae and other algae, however, has not been studied in detail. Here, the effects of the allelopathic Chlorodesmis fastigiata on other macroalgae were analyzed. These effects were first tested on complete coral and macroalgal individuals over several days, then on small samples of the macroalgal species when exposed to isolated toxins. However, neither experiment found significant negative effects on either Sargassum mangarevense or Boodlea kaeneana due to the interaction between these algae and the toxin produced by C. fastigiata. Distribution and abundance of C. fastigiata was also assessed around the island of Moorea in French Polynesia.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.