Diversity exhibited by marine benthic algae inhabiting the coast of Balochistan
| Autor: | Shameel, Mustafa |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2001 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | pjms_ku@yahoo.com University of Karachi. Marine Reference Collection and Resource Centre |
| Popis: | As a result of several surveys made along ca. 800 km long coastline of Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, 234 species and 110 genera of seaweeds were found inhabiting the coastal waters. They exhibited a great biological diversity being distributed among 57 families, 33 orders, 12 classes and 6 divisions. Out of these 70 species, 43 genera, 23 families, 12 orders and 3 classes belonged to Rhodophyta showing the largest group diversity, while Vaucheriophyta with 3 species belonging to only one genus expressed the smallest diversity. Among Cyanophyta highest specific diversity was exhibited by the genus Phormidium as it occurred in 12 different species, among Chlorophyta Codium showed the greatest diversity being represented by 11 species. Sargassum has exhibited the highest specific diversity not only among Phaeophyta but among all the seaweeds as it occurred in 14 different species, Gracilaria and Polysiphonia both were represented by 6 species each and this was the greatest diversity among Rhodophyta. The habitat diversity (expressed in terms of relative percentage) of the inhabiting algae indicated that 7% were freely floating organisms, 17% were associated with other organisms and 76% were attached with solid substrata. Further details revealed that 13% were epiphytic, 1% endophytic, 2% epizoic and 1% endozoic, indicating that they preferred other algae as their substrate. Only 1% were epipelic, 3% epipsammic, 44% epilithic and 28% benthic on pebbles, in pools, on embankments or at uncertain places in the sub-littoral region. It appeared that a vast majority of them preferred solid substrata of one form or the other. Only 1% of the investigated algae were found inhabiting the supralittoral, 5% upper littoral, 22% mid-littoral, 40% lower littoral, 24% lower to sub-littoral and 18% sub-littoral regions. Their littoral diversity (in relative percentage) gradually increased with a decrease in the severity of the ecofactors. At the end, diversities of the newly erected phylum Porphyridiophyta have been presented. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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