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Deep-water benthic macroalgal communities with emphasis on Florida and the Bahamas

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Date Issued:
1988
Title: Deep-water benthic macroalgal communities with emphasis on Florida and the Bahamas.
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Name(s): Hanisak, M. Dennis
Blair, Stephen M.
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Date Issued: 1988
Publisher: NOAA’s Undersea Research Program
Place of Publication: Rockville, MD
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 24 p.
Language(s): English
Identifier: FA00007296 (IID)
Note(s): The development of research submersibles has allowedscientists of various disciplines to ask new questions and readdressold ones about the world's oceans. The Johnson Sea-Linksubmersibles are being used to discover and study deep-waterbenthic macroalgal communities in Florida and the Bahamas. Whiletheir full extent is not yet known, communities of richly diverseand abundant algae have been found in areas of suitable substrateand favorable water quality. Zonation patterns are evident inthese communities. In all cases, the deepest (to ca. 270 m)plants are crustose red algae. Fleshy algae, in particularcertain green algae, can be found in depths as great as ca. 200m. The few measurements of productivity that have been made onthese plants are higher than previously expected and indicatethat the contribution of deep-water benthic macroalgae should beincluded in global estimates of primary production. The degreeto which these plants are grazed by herbivores is unknown.Physiological studies on these algae may elucidate new mechanismsfor adaptation to their deep-water environment. Althoughresearch on these organisms is in its infancy, it is clear that astudy of the biology of deep-water macroalgae will be richlyrewarding.
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 646
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available and may be cited as: Hanisak, M. D., & Blair, S. M. (1988). Deep-water benthic macroalgal communities with emphasis on Florida and the Bahamas. In C. R. Agegian (Ed.), Biogeochemical cycling and fluxes between the deep euphotic zone and other oceanic realms (pp. 61- 83). Rockville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Office of Undersea Research.
Subject(s): Florida
Bahamas
Algal communities
Marine algae
Benthos
Johnson-Sea-Link II (Submarine)
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007296
Host Institution: FAU