Temporal effect on the abundance and diversity of intertidal rocky shore macroalgae

Abstract

A study of the temporal effect on the abundance and diversity of intertidal rocky shore macroalgae re-vealed that there are ~70 species in the intertidal rocky shore of Anjuna (60 species) and Vagator (52 species) in Goa, India. Results showed that pre-monsoon (May) and post-monsoon (December) sea-sons favoured high species richness and abundance in both the study sites. In both cases, species diversity was low during the monsoon months (July and August). The study showed that low diversity might be a monsoonal effect and it coincides with the growth of Ulva and Porphyra species. The growth of opportunistic annuals brings about an ephemeral dominance of the macroalgal community by annual macroalgae. The driver is believed to be the nutrient influx from sur-face run-off, change in salinity and temperature due to high precipitation. The study showed that monsoon could have a role on the macroalgal community dynamics, and there was a strong correlation between diversity and biomass.