Range and habitat associations of the native macroalga Caulerpa filiformis in New South Wales, Australia
Tim M. Glasby A D , Peter. T. Gibson A , Gregory West A , Peter Davies B and Sofietje Voerman C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, Locked Bag 1, Nelson Bay, NSW 2315 Australia.
B Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
C School of the Environment and Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: tim.glasby@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 66(11) 1018-1026 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF14282
Submitted: 12 September 2014 Accepted: 30 November 2014 Published: 9 April 2015
Abstract
Caulerpa filiformis is a green seaweed found in New South Wales (NSW, Australia), South Africa, Mozambique and Peru. It has been suggested that the abundance of the species has increased in NSW over recent decades. Extensive aerial and diver surveys identified a 500-km northerly extension to the range of C. filiformis in NSW (to 28°21′S) compared with previous records. The alga has a disjunct distribution with small isolated populations around rocky headlands in far northern NSW, but then no apparent populations for 350 km southwards. The far northern populations could be the result of recent human-mediated transport (a species introduction), or were simply not detected previously. The increased distribution around the previous northerly limit is likely a natural range expansion. The distribution of C. filiformis in NSW and globally seems confined to a temperature range of ~16–23°C. We found no relationship between abundance of C. filiformis and human population or oceanic chlorophyll-a (a surrogate for nutrient availability). We demonstrate that C. filiformis is predominately subtidal, being found along sections of coastline where there is a mixture of rocky reefs and beaches. It is argued that sand movement may have facilitated increases in abundance of C. filiformis.
Additional keywords: biogeography, Chlorophyta, distribution, seaweed, sedimentation, temperature.
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