Seaweed communities on abrasion platforms along the Newe Yam Island, in the north of Israel

Abstract

The current study presents an analysis of seaweed communities of Newe Yam, a small island of rocky platforms in the north of Israel. The scope of this research was to evaluate the effect of wave action upon abrasion platforms, including tidal pools and potholes, on the distribution of marine macroalgae species thriving on natural substrates. At the study site there are two major processes operating in opposing directions. One is destruction by natural forces (wave action and chemical and physical constraints) and the other is construction by marine life. The research studies the distribution of algae species as a function of geographical conditions in the examined region. The abiotic environmental habitat conditions include: topography, the width of the abrasion platforms, the presence of potholes and rims, and the orientation of the platform. Concomitantly, the algae community was also studied. This was done along transects perpendicular to the shoreline. The local relationship between various biotic components and the abiotic conditions was also studied. The data were analyzed using the redundancy analysis (RDA) algorithm of Canoco, in order to obtain the level of relative importance and the level of effect of abiotic environmental causes for the spatial distribution of marine flora species. Three systems of environmental factors influence the distribution of algae: orientation, sea versus abrasion-platform conditions, and microhabitat conditions.

Keywords:

• Atlit
• abrasion platforms
• Canoco
• environmental factors
• microhabitats
• seaweeds