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Herbivory and the Evolution of Nongeniculate Coralline Algae (Rhodophyta, Corallinales) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific

  • Conference paper
Book cover Evolutionary Biogeography of the Marine Algae of the North Atlantic

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 22))

Abstract

A comparison of the crustose coralline (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) floras of the Boreal eastern North Pacific (Prince William Sound, Alaska to Pt. Conception, California) and Subarctic western North Atlantic (Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the Strait of Belle Isle, Newfoundland) provides an excellent means of comparison for identifying specific adaptations to herbivory. The floras of both regions have about the same number of genera (5) and abundant species (5–7) but no species are common to both regions and a few genera are found in only one region. Only chitons, limpets and sea urchins have species known to be capable of grazing corallines in these regions. The diversity of these coralline-grazers is greater in the Pacific Northwest (13 spp. total, 8 important) compared to the North Atlantic (4 spp. total, 2 important). Only the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, is found in both regions.

Given the apparent taxonomic dissimilarity between the two regions, the anatomical and morphological characteristics found under specific herbivore regimes of grazing frequency and grazing intensity are remarkably similar. In both regions, habitats having no coralline-grazers are dominated by corallines having thin unbranched thalli (i.e., without protuberances or excrescences), and raised conceptacles. Habitats having frequent low-intensity grazing from limpets or chitons are often dominated by thicker forms occasionally having a multi-layered epithallus. In regions where the most intense grazing is from sea urchins, the coralline flora is often dominated by plants having stout protuberances (excrescences), raised conceptacles and a single layered epithallus. Manipulative experiments demonstrate the adaptive nature of these characteristics. Such anatomical and morphological similarities corresponding to the specific herbivore environment suggest that herbivory is a powerful selective force in the evolution of corallines and possibly responsible for the apparent convergent evolution of these cold-water floras.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine, 04576, USA

    R. S. Steneck

  2. Department of Oceanography, Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine, 04576, USA

    R. S. Steneck

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  1. R. S. Steneck
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, B2G 1C0, Canada

    David J. Garbary

  2. Huntsman Marine Science Centre, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, EOG 2X0, Canada

    G. Robin South

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Steneck, R.S. (1990). Herbivory and the Evolution of Nongeniculate Coralline Algae (Rhodophyta, Corallinales) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. In: Garbary, D.J., South, G.R. (eds) Evolutionary Biogeography of the Marine Algae of the North Atlantic. NATO ASI Series, vol 22. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75115-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75115-8_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-75117-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-75115-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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