![Sample our Environment & Sustainability journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5935/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Sustainability.jpg"})
Abstract
Photosynthesis at high latitudes demands efficient strategies of light utilization to maintain algal fitness and performance. The fitness, and physiological adaptation, of a plant or algae species depends in part on the abundance and efficiency of the pigments it can produce to utilize the light resource from its environment. We quantified pigment composition and concentration in six species of the brown macroalgal genus Desmarestia, collected from sub-Antarctic sites (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel–Cape Horn Province) and sites on the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands. Sub-Antarctic Desmarestia species exhibited lower concentrations of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll c and fucoxanthin than endemic Antarctic species. Antarctic samples of D. menziesii and D. antarctica collected along a decreasing latitudinal gradient showed spatial and interspecific differences in light-harvesting pigment composition. Our results suggest distinct physiological adjustments in Desmarestia species in response to heterogeneous abiotic environmental conditions. The marine sub-Antarctic and Antarctic ecosystems are characterized by harsh environments (e.g., extreme irradiance, photoperiod, temperature, salinity) to which the physiology of macroalgal species must adapt.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by Chile's National Council for Research in Science and Technology (CONICYT) Program FONDECYT, project 1140940, the Millennium Scientific Initiative (grant P05-002 ICM, Chile) and the Basal Financing Program of the (grant PFB-23, Chile). We thank the resources and support offered by the Chilean Navy Ships AP-46 ″Almirante Óscar Viel, and AP–41 Aquiles during field expeditions. We are thankful for the graduate scholarships by the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity granted to FM (ICM, P05-002) and JPR (ICM, P05-002) and to JM (PFB-23-2008) and SR (ICM P05-002).
