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Nutrients increase epiphyte loads: broad-scale observations and an experimental assessment

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Abstract

There is a global trend towards elevated nutrients in coastal waters, especially on human-dominated coasts. We assessed local- to regional-scale relationships between the abundance of epiphytic algae on kelp (Ecklonia radiata) and nutrient concentrations across much of the temperate coast of Australia, thus assessing the spatial scales over which nutrients may affect benthic assemblages. We tested the hypotheses that (1) percentage cover of epiphytic algae would be greater in areas with higher water nutrient concentrations, and (2) that an experimental enhancement of nutrient concentrations on an oligotrophic coast, to match more eutrophic coasts, would cause an increase in percentage cover of epiphytic algae to match those in more nutrient rich waters. Percentage cover of epiphytes was most extensive around the coast of Sydney, the study location with the greatest concentration of coastal chlorophyll a (a proxy for water nutrient concentration). Elevation of nitrate concentrations at a South Australian location caused an increase in percentage cover of epiphytes that was comparable to percentage covers observed around Sydney’s coastline. This result was achieved despite our inability to match nutrient concentrations observed around Sydney (<5% of Sydney concentrations), suggesting that increases to nutrient concentrations may have disproportionately larger effects in oligotrophic waters.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Paris Goodsell and Meegan Fowler-Walker for collection of Ecklonia radiata samples across southern Australia. The experimental work would not have been possible without the help of Andrew Irving. This project was supported by Australian Postgraduate Awards to BDR and TSE, an Australian Research Council QEII Fellowship to BMG, and an Australian Research Council Discovery grant to SDC and BMG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, DP418, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, 5005, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Bayden D. Russell, Travis S. Elsdon, Bronwyn M. Gillanders & Sean D. Connell

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  1. Bayden D. Russell
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  2. Travis S. Elsdon
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  3. Bronwyn M. Gillanders
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  4. Sean D. Connell
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Correspondence to Bayden D. Russell.

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Communicated by M.S. Johnson, Crawley

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Russell, B.D., Elsdon, T.S., Gillanders, B.M. et al. Nutrients increase epiphyte loads: broad-scale observations and an experimental assessment. Marine Biology 147, 551–558 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1571-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1571-3

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