Macroalgal communities of the Suez Canal after the recent improvement of marine habitats | ||||
| Taeckholmia | ||||
| Article 2, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2001, Page 205-219 PDF (126.21 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/taec.2001.12465 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Islam El-Manawy* | ||||
| Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Ismailia, Suez Canal University. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The macroalgal communities of the Suez Canal were seasonally investigated at 16 sites during 1996 and 2000. A hundred and twenty eight taxa including 15 new records were identified. The recent reduction of navigation and urbanization works resulted in an increase in species richness (42 species) and algal forms. Distribution pattern, seasonal variation, and algal zonation were also examined. All were intensely regulated by substrate, space, depth, light, and water movement during the passage of ships. Sites were clustered, on the basis of species co-occurrence, into five groups, suggesting division of the Suez Canal into four biological sectors. The hard substrata supported distinct algal zones. Cladophoropsis zollingeri and Bangia fuscopurpurea characterized the littoral zone. A rich algal community dominated the infralittoral at a depth of 30-150 cm, while a few red species with Caulerpa racemosa were found deeper. Competition for space in some sites was evident by presence of 61 epiphytic macroalgae. A half of these were also found on hard substrata when the space was available. Algal succession in the canal during the past century was also discussed in the light of environmental changes. Algal succession could have passed through four stages; including the establishment of pioneers until 1924, the maturity to a climax sometime before1953, degradation of the climax due to navigation and urbanization constructions, and the reestablishment of the climax with the recent improvement in algal habitats. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Egypt; Macroalgae; marine habitat; Red Sea; Succession; Suez Canal | ||||
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