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Influence of light and nitrogen on the phlorotannin content of the brown seaweeds Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus

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Island, Ocean and Deep-Sea Biology

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 152))

Abstract

Phlorotannins, C-based defence compounds in brown seaweeds, show a high degree of spatial and temporal variation within seaweed species. One important model explaining this variation is the Carbon Nutrient Balance Model (CNBM), which states that the relative supply of carbon and limiting nutrients will determine the level of defence compounds in plants. Nitrogen is often considered to be the limiting nutrient for marine macroalgal growth and the CNBM thus predicts that when the carbon:nitrogen ratio is high, photosynthetically fixed carbon will be allocated to production of phlorotannins. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of light (i.e. carbon) and nitrogen on the phlorotannin content of two intertidal brown seaweeds, Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus. This was done in an observational field study, as well as in a manipulative experiment where plants from habitats with different light regimes were subjected to different nitrogen and light treatments, and their phlorotannin content was measured after 14 days. The results showed that there was a negative relationship between tissue nitrogen and phlorotannin content in natural populations of F. vesiculosus, but not in A. nodosum. In the short term, the phlorotannin content in both algal species was not affected by changes in nitrogen availability. Exposure to sunlight had a positive effect on the phlorotannin content in natural populations of both algal species but, in the manipulative experiment, only F. vesiculosus showed a rapid response to changes in light intensities. Plants subjected to sunlight contained higher phlorotannin content than shaded plants. In conclusion, the results imply that nitrogen availability explains some of the natural variation in the phlorotannin content of F. vesiculosus, but the light environment has greater importance than nitrogen availability in predicting the phlorotannin content of each species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Botany, Göteborg University, Box 461, SE 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Henrik Pavia & Gunilla B. Toth

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  1. Henrik Pavia
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  2. Gunilla B. Toth
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Environmental Research Centre (Department of Biological Sciences), University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA, Plymouth, UK

    M. B. Jones

  2. Secção de Biologia Marinha, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade dos Açores, Rua da Mãe de Deus 58, 9501-801, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    J. M. N. Azevedo , A. I. Neto , A. C. Costa  & A. M. Frias Martins , ,  & 

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Pavia, H., Toth, G.B. (2000). Influence of light and nitrogen on the phlorotannin content of the brown seaweeds Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus . In: Jones, M.B., Azevedo, J.M.N., Neto, A.I., Costa, A.C., Martins, A.M.F. (eds) Island, Ocean and Deep-Sea Biology. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 152. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1982-7_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1982-7_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5663-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1982-7

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