Abstract
Land-locked fjords, which communicate with the open sea through narrow channels, were studied along the hydrographic boundary area in southeastern Iceland. There is an ample freshwater supply into these fjords. Growth conditions for benthic algae range from marine over brackish to limnic. The benthic algal vegetation is dominated by filamentous brown and green algae, found mainly in loose, entangled mats. Fucoids are subordinate and form continuous populations only close to the channels. Giant specimens of foliose algae (Ulva lactuca, Ulvaria and Monostroma species, Porphyra purpurea) were found attached to pebbles in sandy habitats). Chorda filum dominates in the sublittoral and is locally accompanied by Laminaria saccharina (in a broad growth form). A vegetation gradient from the entrance towards the innermost areas of these fjords was obvious. On soft substrata Vaucheria spp. are common. Admixture of marine phanerogams (e.g. of Ruppia maritime) into the benthic algal vegetation is also a characteristic feature.
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Munda, I.M. The benthic algal vegetation of land-locked fjords in southeastern Iceland. Hydrobiologia 393, 169–180 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003565309759
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003565309759