The challenge of assessing seldom-visited, benthic substrates has created the need for a method to describe benthic communities quickly and efficiently. Macroscale rapid ecological assessments (REAs) of algal assemblages provide managers of coral reefs and other benthic ecosystems with the fundamental descriptive data necessary for continued yearly monitoring studies. The high cost of monitorin...

A mass mortality occurred in 1983, killing 95-99% of the Diadema antillarum Philippi in the Caribbean. This study, conducted in Lameshur Bay, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, reports the impact of the mass mortality on Diadema population density, algal biomass, and Diadema body size. Census dates were 6 months before and 6, 12, 18, 26, 30, and 42 months after the mass mortality. There was an in...

Abstract Diatoms constitute a representative portion of the algal community freshwater aquatic environments, but their studies are centered mostly in south and southern regions Brazil, making microalgae biodiversity water bodies semiarid practically unknown. In state Ceará, few records Bacillariaceae region generally not identified at specific level. Denticula, Hantzschia, Tryblionella worldwid...

N (N) is often a limiting nutrient in coastal marine systems, but human activities have doubled the availability of this nutrient over the past century, particularly via fertilizer production to sustain increases in agriculture (Galloway et al. 1995). In coastal ecosystems receiving anthropogenic N, excess N can fuel harmful algal blooms, and the decomposition of organic (dead algal) material v...

Factors determining the degree of dietary generalism versus specialism are central in ecology. Species that are generalists at the population level may in fact be composed of specialized individuals. The optimal diet theory assumes that individuals choose diets that maximize fitness, and individual specialization may occur if individuals' ability to locate, recognize, and handle different food ...

In the guppy Poecilia reticulata, males exhibit orange spots on their body and tail, and the orange spot patterns are often criteria of female mate choice. The orange spot coloration of the males is determined by the intake of algae, a natural source of carotenoids. Therefore, it is considered that males exhibiting conspicuous orange coloration possess high algal-foraging ability. In the presen...

In this research, we investigated the cytotoxic mechanisms of Cochlodinium polykrikoidescell lysate on isolated rat liver hepatocytes.This micro algae is responsible for a severe and widespread harmful algal bloom in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman (2008-2009). Isolated hepatocytes were obtained by collagenase perfusion of Sprague-Dawley rat liver.According to our results, incubation of algal...

Disturbance in coral reef environments commonly results in an algal community dominated by highly productive, small filamentous forms and cyanobacteria, collectively known as algal turf. Research on the types of disturbance responsible for this community structure has concentrated mainly on biological disturbance in the form of grazing, although physical and other forms of biological disturbanc...

There is growing evidence that the spatial and temporal incidence of harmful algal blooms is increasing, posing potential risks to human health and ecosystem sustainability. Currently there are no US Federal guidelines, Water Quality Criteria and Standards, or regulations concerning the management of harmful algal blooms. Algal blooms in freshwater are predominantly cyanobacteria, some of which...