RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Distribution of the epiphytes along the leaves of Cymodocea nodosa in the Canary Islands
A1 Afonso Carrillo, Julio
A1 Reyes, Javier
A1 Sansón Acedo, Marta
A2 BotánicaEcología y Fisiología Vegetal
A2 Botánica Marina
AB The distribution of the epiphytes along the oldest leaf of shoots of Cymodocea nodosa was studied during atwo-year cycle, from June 1990 to May 1992, in terms of number of species and cover. The difference in agebetween the base (the youngest part) and the apex (the oldest part) of the leaves allowed a study of the effectof the age of the host on the epiphyte community. A continuous increase in the number of species wasobserved along the oldest leaf of each shoot, from basal to apical segments. While the permanent epiphytespecies were present everywhere, the seasonal and the occasional species were concentrated on the apicalsegments of the leaves and the occasional epiphytes showed their highest abundance in winter. The greatestdevelopment of the individuals, the high number of species as well as the high densities found towards theapical segments resulted in remarkable differences of cover along the leaves, from 0% at the basal segmentsto more than 600% reached at the apical segments in some months during the study period. The highest meanpercentage cover by epiphytes on the oldest leaf of a shoot was detected in winter while the lowest wasobtained in spring-summer. The Rhodophyta showed a quantitative dominance of more than 90% of coverin relation to the rest of the algal divisions, the Ceramiales and the Corallinales being the epiphytes whichmainly contributed throughout the year. Results on cover and number of species of epiphytes permitted thedistinguishing of three stages of development of the epiphytic community along the leaves: initiation, transition and maturity. Annual variations in the number of species as well as in the cover of the epiphytes alongthe oldest leaves were directly related to the growth rate and life-time of the leaves of Cymodocea nodosa.During the life-time of the leaves there was no succession of species in the epiphytic community but, frombasal to apical segments, the epiphyte species were more developed and abundant, and the epiphytic community became more diverse
YR 1998
FD 1998
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/26948
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DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 27-dic-2024