Search

The fate of 100 marked recruits of the rhizophytic alga Halimeda incrassata was followed in Puerto Morelos reef lagoon, Mexican Caribbean (20°52′N, 86°51′W), until death of the last individual from April 2005-2007. Juvenile mortality was relatively high (19%), the half-life of adult thalli was 13 months and maximal lifespan was 2 years. First age of sexual reproduction was 10 months, but only 6% of the marked thalli reproduced sexually. A subsequent static life-table approach (February-April 2008) at two sites indicated low spatial variation in transition probabilities between the life stages. Recruits were found throughout the year (density 2-11 thalli m) and were mostly of clonal origin. In a disturbed area, the density of sexual recruits was ~0.01 thalli m. Temporal fluctuations in population size depended on mortality rates, which increased slightly after hurricanes Emily (July 2005) and Wilma (October 2005), but might otherwise be regulated by density-dependent processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the impact of experimental pollen reduction or addition of pollen on the fruit and seed-set of Thalassia testudinum at Puerto Morelos reef lagoon in Mexico. For the study, researchers examined flowers and flower buds at pre-anthesis in April of 2008 and 2009. They analyzed pollen production and potential restriction of pollen availability in the seagrass. They observed a decline of fruit production from 83 to 60 percent following experimental removal of half of the male flowers in April 2008.

The letter to the editor describes the unseasonal spawning of the Bryopsodales species of green algae along the Panama coast after the passage of Hurricane Wilma in 2005.