Marine benthic algal flora of Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Konstantinos Tsiamis, Akira F. Peters, Dawn M. Shewring, Aldo O. Asensi, Pieter Van West, Frithjof C. Küpper* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
6 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive checklist of the marine benthic macroalgal flora of Ascension Island (tropical South Atlantic Ocean), based on both new collections and previous literature. 82 marine macroalgae were identified from our work, including 18 green algae (Ulvophyceae), 15 brown algae (Phaeophyceae) and 49 red algae (Rhodophyta). Among our collections, 38 species and infraspecific taxa are reported for the first time from Ascension Island, including seven green, three brown and 28 red macroalgae, raising the total number of seaweeds recorded in Ascension so far to 112 taxa in species and infraspecific level. No seagrasses have been recorded at Ascension Island.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)681-688
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Volume97
Issue number4
Early online date27 Aug 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2017

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Nick John, Jimmy Young and Caroline Yon (all in Ascension Island) for sampling assistance. We would also like to thank Konstantinos Kondylis for help with the DNA amplification of macroalgal isolates. We are grateful to the Shallow Marine Surveys Group and the South Atlantic
Environmental Research Institute for organizing the expedition. We are also very grateful to the Ascension Island Government, the members of staff at the Conservation Centre and Ascension Island Dive Club for their cooperation,
accommodation and hospitality. Finally we are grateful to British Forces South Atlantic Islands for their logistic support.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The MASTS pooling initiative (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland, funded by the Scottish Funding Council and contributing institutions; grant reference HR09011) is gratefully acknowledged for supporting F.C.K. The funding for this work came from a grant to the Shallow Marine Surveys Group from the Darwin Initiative (EIDCF012).

Keywords

  • algae
  • checklist
  • marine vegetation
  • seagrasses
  • seaweeds

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