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Western Pacific

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Rhodolith/Maërl Beds: A Global Perspective

Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 15))

Abstract

The Western Pacific is one of the regions where rhodolith beds are abundant. However, the studies of the rhodolith beds and rhodoliths themselves have been conducted mainly from geological perspectives. Here we review rhodolith beds and 20 rhodolith-forming species which are distributed in both shallow and deep waters (lower intertidal zones to 135 m deep) from cold to tropical regions of the Western Pacific. The coralline species composition of each rhodolith bed has not been well studied, and the taxonomic status of each species has to be defined by modern taxonomic concepts using molecular approaches. Research on rhodoliths in the Western Pacific therefore remains a poorly studied in aspects of phycology and of coastal biology. The present chapter represents an account of the current knowledge.

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Acknowledgements

We thank to A. Kurashima, T. Mezaki and R. Terada for providing us unpublished information regarding rhodolith beds and samples and L. M. Liao for his critical reading and valuable comments for the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Takehara Marine Science Station, Setouchi Field Science Center, Hiroshima University, Minato-machi, Takehara, Hiroshima, 725-0024, Japan

    Aki Kato

  2. Central Laboratory, Marine Ecology Research Institute, Onjuku-machi, Chiba, 299-5105, Japan

    Masasuke Baba

  3. Faculty of Education, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Shinya Matsuda

  4. Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aobayama, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Yasufumi Iryu

Authors
  1. Aki Kato
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  2. Masasuke Baba
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  3. Shinya Matsuda
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  4. Yasufumi Iryu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aki Kato .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad de Baja California Sur, La Paz, BCS, Mexico

    Rafael Riosmena-Rodríguez

  2. School of Biological Sciences University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Wendy Nelson

  3. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Julio Aguirre

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Kato, A., Baba, M., Matsuda, S., Iryu, Y. (2017). Western Pacific. In: Riosmena-Rodríguez, R., Nelson, W., Aguirre, J. (eds) Rhodolith/Maërl Beds: A Global Perspective. Coastal Research Library, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29315-8_14

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