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Float and Raft: Role of Buoyant Seaweeds in the Phylogeography and Genetic Structure of Non-buoyant Associated Flora

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Seaweed Phylogeography

Abstract

Many seaweed species (primary rafters) float at the sea surface and travel with marine currents after detachment from benthic habitats. Various studies have confirmed that dispersal via floating sporophytes and/or gametophytes influences the phylogeography and genetic population structure of these buoyant seaweeds. In addition, non-buoyant seaweeds (secondary rafters) that grow attached to or intermingled with these primary floaters may also become dispersed by rafting on their floating hosts. Here, we examine reports of non-buoyant seaweed species associated with buoyant seaweeds and discuss potential consequences for their phylogeography and/or genetic population structure. We found that mostly red and brown algae have been reported with floating seaweed rafts, most of them growing as epiphytes and some as obligate parasites (e.g. endophytes) that travel with their hosts. Molecular evidence suggests dispersal associated with primary floaters in 16 non-buoyant seaweeds, although colonization of distant sites could also have occurred via other floating substrata such as wood, buoys, and other man-made materials. Transoceanic dispersal has been inferred for non-buoyant seaweeds (for example, Gracilaria chilensis and Capreolia implexa) based on low levels of genetic structure and shared haplotypes among populations separated over vast distances of open ocean (e.g. New Zealand–Chile). Some non-buoyant species suspected or shown to be dispersed by rafting are from intertidal habitats, and these algae can resist physiologically stressful conditions during long trips at the sea surface. However, subtidal and low intertidal non-buoyant species have higher potential to be transported because they cohabit with common raft-forming kelps, often growing on them as epiphytes. We conclude that buoyant seaweeds play an important role in driving the phylogeography, evolution, connectivity and distribution of non-buoyant associated seaweeds. Dispersal of non-buoyant seaweeds via these floating seaweeds may have been underestimated in the past.

There is convincing circumstantial evidence that [floating] algae could be an important agent in long-range dispersal of benthic seaweeds. However, the majority of algae cannot float, and they can only be transported by other floating algae or other floating objects.

van den Hoek (1987)

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Acknowledgements

We thank the editors for inviting us to contribute this review. Financial support was received through FONDECYT 1131082 to M.T., F. Tellier and F. Tala; FONDECYT 1131023 to F. Tala, M.T. and E.M.; FONDECYT 1110437 to E.M.; PhD-fellowship Becas CONICYT-PCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2014-21140010 to B.L.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Estudios Algales (ALGALAB), Departamento de Oceanografía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Erasmo C. Macaya

  2. Programa de Doctorado en Biología y Ecología Aplicada (BEA), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Boris López

  3. Departamento de Acuicultura y Recursos Agroalimentarios, Universidad de Los Lagos, Avenida Fuchslocher 1305, Osorno, Chile

    Boris López

  4. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Algas de la Universidad Católica del Norte (CIDTA-UCN), Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Fadia Tala

  5. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Casilla 297, Concepción, Chile

    Florence Tellier

  6. Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Martin Thiel

  7. Millennium Nucleus Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Island (ESMOI), Coquimbo, Chile

    Erasmo C. Macaya & Martin Thiel

  8. Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile

    Martin Thiel

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  1. Erasmo C. Macaya
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  2. Boris López
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  3. Fadia Tala
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  4. Florence Tellier
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  5. Martin Thiel
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Correspondence to Erasmo C. Macaya .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Zi-Min Hu

  2. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Ceridwen Fraser

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Macaya, E.C., López, B., Tala, F., Tellier, F., Thiel, M. (2016). Float and Raft: Role of Buoyant Seaweeds in the Phylogeography and Genetic Structure of Non-buoyant Associated Flora. In: Hu, ZM., Fraser, C. (eds) Seaweed Phylogeography. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7534-2_4

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