Biomass Yield, Photosynthesis and Morphological Expression of Ulva lactuca

A. A. Israel, M. Friedlander, A. Neori

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

During a 9-month study in outdoor (36 L plexiglass tanks) and laboratory (gradient table) cultivation systems, the green macroalga Ulva lactuca L. exhibited high biomass yields correlating with plant density, photosynthetic photon flux and temperature. During winter when the mean temperature of seawater was 12 °C, biomass increased weekly by an average of 87% while yields in well water at about 18 °C averaged 600% per week; biomass increment during spring averaged 215%. Algae grown at 75%, 50% and 25% of full sunlight during the spring had lower light compensation points, higher photosynthetic rates at low photosynthetic photon flux, and lower maximal rate of photosynthesis together with significantly higher level of chlorophyll a. Variations of net photosynthesis correlated with those of growth rate in outdoor cultivation tanks. The biomass yield for an initial stocking density of 1.6 kg fw m-2was lower in early winter, similar in mid-winter and lower in spring than yields for an initial stocking density of 1.1 or 0.5 kg fw m-2. Morphological expression and thallus decay also appeared to be related to temperature, photosynthetic photon flux and plant density but did not affect biomass yield.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)297-302
Number of pages6
JournalBotanica Marina
Volume38
Issue number1-6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1995
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the grant from the Negev-Arava R & D Network (A. N. and M. F., P.L's) and by BARD grant no. 1-1634-89 (A. N., R L). H. Gor-

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Aquatic Science
  • Plant Science

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