A Study on the Community Structure of Intertidal Marine Benthic Algae in the East Coast of Korea I. An intertidal marine benthic algal community at Sokcho

Algae > Volume 8(1); 1993 > Article

Algae 1993;8(1): 67-75.

Jae-Wan Lee, Hae-Bok Lee, In-Kyu Lee

Department of Biology, Chongju University, Department of Biology, Seoul National University

ABSTRACT

An intertidal marine benthic algal vegetation Sokcho, the eastern coast of Korea was investigated to clarify the community structure and the pattern of geographical distribution by a quadrat method along a transect line. The vertical distribution of intertidal marine algae was clearly divided into three distinct zones, the upper, middle, and lower ones. They were characterized by Chaetomorpha moniligera, Bangia atropurpurea, Porphyra spp. and Gloiopeltis furcata at the upper, Corallina pilulifera, Lomentaria hakodatensis, Chondria crassicaulis and Polysiphonia spinosa at the middle, and Sargassum yezoense at the lower zones, respectively. The dominant species throughout a year was Sargassum yezoense, while the subdominant species were Bangia atropurpurea in winter and spring, Corallina pilulifera in spring, autumn and winter, Chondria crassicaulis in spring and autumn, and Polysiphonia spinosa in summer. The average biomass of the algal community as organic matter was 111g/m super(2). A total of 55 species, 7 green, 12 brown, and 36 red algae, was enumerated by the floristic investigation.

Key words: intertidal community structure, vertical distribution, algal species composition, dominant species, biomass, East coast of Korea