Abstract
Plant pigments extracted from eleven different macroalgae from the Baltic proper were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Distinct pigment ratios found in the Phaeophyceae, Chlorophyceae, and Rhodophyceae may provide useful markers to differentiate between macroalgal versus planktonic inputs to subtidal regions of the Baltic. Fucoxanthinlchlorophyll-α (CW-α) ratios in Phaeophyceae ranged from 0.34 to 0.64 compared to values typically greater than 1.00 in fucoxanthin containing phytoplankton. Similarly, the Chlorophyceae had Chl-b/a ratios that ranged from 0.20 to 0.30 while that typically found in single-celled chlorophytes is 0.9. Although we were not able to resolve dominant phycobilin pigments in the Rhodophyceae using this HPLC method, the zeaxanthin/Chl-α ratio may prove useful in distinguishing between phytoplankton inputs. Finally, the higher concentrations of the photoprotectant pigment \gB,\gB, -carotene in the gametic versus vegetative tissues of the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus may suggest that this plant has evolved a mechanism for protecting its genetic material from UV radiation while growing at the surface. Pigment ratios of these macroalgae may prove extremely useful in distinguishing between macroalgal versus planktonic inputs to the benthic communities of the Baltic Sea.