Description
Background The seaweed flora of Pico Island (central group of the Azores archipelago) has attracted interest of researchers on past occasions. Despite this, the macroalgal flora of the island cannot be considered well-known as published information reflects only occasional collections. To overcome this, a thorough investigation, encompassing collections and presence data recording, was undertaken. Research under the Campaigns “AÇORES/89”, “PICO/91”, “PICOBEL/2007” and “LAUMACAT/2011” covered a relatively large area (approximately 39 km2) around the island encompassing the littoral and sublittoral levels down to about 40 m. This paper improves the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at local and regional scales by listing taxonomic records and providing information on the ecology and occurrence of each species present on the island’s littoral.
New information A total of 4043 specimens (including taxa identified only to genus level) belonging to 303 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 197 Rhodophyta, 53 Chlorophyta and 53 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). From these, 225 were identified to species level (142 Rhodophyta, 41 Chlorophyta and 42 Ochrophyta), encompassing 110 new records for the island (69 Rhodophyta, 20 Chlorophyta and 21 Ochrophyta), three Macaronesian endemisms (Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto; Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun; and Codium elisabethiae O. C. Schmidt), 14 introduced, and 25 species with an uncertain status.
Introduction The Azorean algal flora, considered cosmopolitan with species shared with Macaronesia, North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Europe and America (Tittley 2003, Tittley & Neto 2006, Wallenstein et al. 2009), has been considered relatively rich when compared to that of other remote oceanic islands (Neto et al. 2005; Tittley & Neto 2005; Wallenstein et al. 2009). Even so, it is worth mentioning that the published information (approximately 400 species, Freitas et al. 2019) reflects data from only a few of the nine islands, since not all of them have been thoroughly investigated. To overcome this, and improve the understanding of the archipelago’s seaweed flora, an effort has been made by local investigators over the past three decades and research on the marine macroalgae flora has been conducted on several of the less studied Azorean islands. This paper comprises both physical and occurrence data and compiles the gathered information from macroalgae surveys developed in Pico Island mainly by the Island Aquatic Research Group of the University of the Azores (https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/sub-team/island-aquatic-ecology). It aims to constitute a practical resource for biological studies such as systematics, diversity and conservation, biological monitoring, climate change and ecology, and also for academics, students, government, private organizations, and the general public.
Purpose By listing taxonomic records for Pico and presenting general information for each taxon occurrence on the island’s littoral, this paper addresses several biodiversity shortfalls (see Hortal et al. 2015), namely the need to catalogue the Azorean macroalgae (Linnean shortfall) and improve the current information on their local and regional geographic distribution (Wallacean shortfall), as well as on species abundances and dynamics in space (Prestonian shortfall).
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 74 records.
1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Neto A I, Prestes A C L, Vaz Álvaro N, Resendes R, Neto R M A, Tittley I, Moreu I (2019): Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Pico Island, Azores. v1.11. Universidade dos Açores. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=pico_seaweed_flora&v=1.11
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Universidade dos Açores. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 6af010f0-8238-4745-8309-21c3f82bd488. Universidade dos Açores publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Portugal.
Keywords
Macroalgae; seaweeds; Rhodophyta; Ochrophyta; Chlorophyta; Azores; Pico Island; endemism; native; introduced; uncertain; occurrence data.; Samplingevent
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Geographic Coverage
Pico Island, Azores, Macaronesia, Portugal (approximately 38°34'02″ N 28°33′17″ W).
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [38.376, -28.555], North East [38.567, -28.021] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
All macroalgae were identified to genus or species. In total, 303 taxa were identified belonging to 30 orders and 67 families, distributed by the phyla Rhodophyta (15 orders and 39 families), Chlorophyta (3 orders and 10 families), and Ochrophyta (12 orders and 18 families).
| Phylum | Rhodophyta (Red algae), Chlorophyta (Green algae), Ochrophyta (Brown algae) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1989-01-01 / 2018-01-01 |
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Project Data
Aimed at improving the knowledge of Pico Island macroalgal flora, extensive observations were made in the period between 1989 and 2018, encompassing both collections and presence data recordings, and covering the littoral and sublittoral levels down to approximately 40 m around the island. This paper lists the taxonomic records and provides information on each species’ ecology and occurrence in the island’s littoral.
| Title | Marine algal (seaweed) flora of Pico Island, Azores |
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| Identifier | Seaweeds of Pico Island (Azores) |
| Funding | This study was mainly financed by the following projects/scientific expeditions: • Campaign AÇORES/89, under the Expedition Azores/89, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas da Universidade dos Açores, July 1989; • Expedition PICO/91, Ilha do Pico, Açores, Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Açores Ilha do Pico, Açores, June 1991; • Campaign PICOBEL/2007, under the project “PICOBEL: Coastal benthic communities of Pico Island: characterization and monitoring”. 2007- 2008. The Azores Regional Government; • Campaign LAUMACAT/2011 under the project “LAUMACAT: Diversity and phylogenetic relationships on the benthic marine algae with pharmacological potencial: the Laurencia complex (Rhodophyta) in Macaronesian archipelagos, tropical and subtropical Atlantic”. Phase II. 2011 - 2014. General Direction for Research and Management: Research Projects. Spanish Government; • Project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072 - AZORES BIOPORTAL – PORBIOTA. Operational Program Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds); • Portuguese National Funds, through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within the projects UID/BIA/00329/2013, 2015 - 2018, and UID/BIA/00329/2019 and UID/BIA/00329/2020-2023; • Portuguese Regional Funds, through DRCT – Direção Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia, within several projects, since 2013; • CIRN/DB/UAc (Research Centre for Natural Resources, Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Biologia); • CIIMAR (Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Porto, Portugal). |
| Study Area Description | Located in the North Atlantic, roughly at 38°43′49″N 27°19′10″W, the Azores comprise nine islands and several islets spread over 500 km, in a WNW direction. The climate is temperate oceanic, with regular and abundant rainfall, high levels of relative humidity and persistent winds, mainly during the winter and autumn seasons (Morton et al. 1998). The islands lack a continental shelf, thus presenting a restricted coastal extension, and deep waters occur within a few kilometres offshore. Shore geomorphology varies considerably with high cliffs in some places and rocky cobble/ boulder beaches elsewhere (Borges 2004), the tidal range is small (<2 m, see Instituto Hidrográfico 1981) and coasts are subjected to swell and surge most of the year. Pico, of approximately 447 km2, and dominated by its 2351 m tall mountain, is the second largest and the youngest island of the Azores archipelago, composed by basaltic volcanic deposits less than 300,000 years old (Cruz & Oliveira 2001). The island's coastline is approximately 126 km long, generally devoid of high cliffs, and consists mainly of irregular extensions of bedrock, presenting a variety of stack, arch and gully formations due to its recent volcanic origin. Intertidal platforms, occasionally dissected by channels and gullies, are mostly easily accessible by land and exhibit considerable variation in width (Wallenstein et al. 2009). Important features and habitats at this shore level are rock pools. These differ in shape and size and are a stressful environment due to the changes in salinity caused by either evaporation or dilution during low tides. They often recreate a shallow subtidal habitat and contain a rich diversity of marine life. A few shores consist of irregularly rounded boulders or cobles between which coarse sand or gravel may be retained. Sandy shores are rare (Neto pers. observ.). The rocky-shore communities of Pico, like all over in the Azores, are dominated by macroalgae at both intertidal and shallow subtidal levels (Neto et al. 2005). At intertidal levels, a distinct zonation pattern is evident with a higher zone dominated by invertebrates (littorinids and chthamalid barnacles, in which patches or fringes of the algae Fucus spiralis Linnaeus and Gelidium microdon Kützing can occur. This is followed by a mid-shore zone covered by algal turfs (growth forms of either diminutive algae or diminutive forms of larger species that create a dense, compact mat 20-30 mm thick).Depending on the shore, turf can be monospecific (of either Caulacanthus ustulatus (Mertens ex Turner) Kützing, Centroceras clavulatum (C. Agardh) Montagne or Gymnogongrus), or multispecific and composed by soft algae (e.g. Centroceras clavulatum, Chondracanthus and Laurencia) usually growing as epiphytes over articulate calcareous forms (e.g. Elisolandia and Jania). The lower zone is mainly dominated by calcareous crusts (first strata), covered by corticated macrophytes e.g. Elisolandia elongata, Pterocladiella capillacea, Treptacantha abies-marina (S.G.Gmelin) Kützing. Seasonally, and mainly in Spring and Summer, considerable amounts of the introduced Asparagopsis armata Harvey can be seen at this level. Subtidally, algae communities are mainly characterized by the association of two or three frondose macrophytes, e.g. Dictyota, Halopteris, Zonaria tournefortii (J.V.Lamouroux) Montagne. |
| Design Description | The algae referred to in this paper were collected during field studies at littoral and sublittoral levels down to approximately 40 m on Pico island. Each sampling location was visited several times and on each occasion a careful survey was made covering much of the area. Presence/absence data was recorded for all known species, and whenever an unknown or potential new species was found, it was collected, assigned an individual registration number and vouchers were deposited at the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, based at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores. |
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Sampling Methods
Intertidal collections were made at low tide by walking over the shores. Subtidal collections were made by scuba diving around the area. Sampling encompassed both physical collections and species presence recordings. For the former, in each sampling location, collections were made manually by scraping one or two specimens of species found into previously labelled bags. Species recording data was gathered by registering all species present in the sampled locations visited. Complementary data e.g. shore level (high, mid, low), orientation and type of substrate (bedrock, boulders, cobbles, mixed), habitat (tide pool, open rock, gully, crevice, cave) was also recorded.
| Study Extent | This study covers a relatively large area, approximately 39 km2, covering littoral and sublittoral levels down to approximately 40 m around the Island. |
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| Quality Control | Each sampled taxon was investigated by trained taxonomists with the help of keys and floras. This involved morphological and anatomical examination by eye or under the dissecting and compound microscopes of an entire specimen or slide preparation. In difficult cases specimens were sent to experts for identification. |
Method step description:
- In the laboratory the specimens were sorted and studied following standard procedures used in macroalgae identification. Species identification was based on morphological and anatomical characters and reproductive structures. For small and simple thalli, this required the observation of the entire thallus with the naked eye and/or using dissecting and compound microscopes. For larger and more complex algae, the investigation of the thallus anatomy required histological work to obtain longitudinal and transverse sections needed for the observation of cells, reproductive structures and other diagnosing characters. The Azorean algal flora has components from several geographical regions which makes for difficulties in identification. Floras and identification keys to macroalgae in the Atlantic and Western Mediterranean were used in species identification (e.g. Schmidt 1931, Taylor 1967, 1978, Levring 1974, Dixon & Irvine 1977, Lawson & John 1982, Irvine 1983, Gayral & Cosson 1986, Fletcher 1987, Afonso-Carrillo & Sansón 1989, Burrows 1991, Boudouresque et al. 1992, Cabioc'h et al. 1992, Maggs & Hommersand 1993, Irvine & Chamberlain 1994, Brodie et al. 2007, Lloréns et al. 2012 and Rodríguez-Prieto et al. 2013). For more critical and taxonomically difficult taxa, specimens were taken to the Natural History Museum (London) for comparison with collections there, or sent to appropriate specialists. A reference collection was made for all collected specimens by assigning them an herbarium code number and depositing them at the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, University of Azores. Depending on the species and on planned further research, different types of collections were made, namely (i) liquid collections using 5% buffered formaldehyde seawater and then replacing it by the fixing agent Kew (Bridsen & Forman 1999); (ii) dried collections, either by pressing the algae (most species) as described by Gayral and Cosson (1986), or by letting them air dry (calcareous species); and (iii) silica collections. Nomenclatural and taxonomic status used here follow Algaebase (Guiry & Guiry, 2020). The database was organized on FileMaker Pro.
Collection Data
| Collection Name | AZB | Marine macroalgae collection of Pico Island (Azores) – Expedition AZORES/89 |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | 4ea1e09c-13c8-4b8e-a28a-72c55bde8f66 |
| Parent Collection Identifier | AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores |
| Collection Name | AZB | Marine macroalgae collection of Pico Island (Azores) – Expedition PICO/91 |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | 0f2368fa-0a53-43c5-9f19-b126260e4e83 |
| Parent Collection Identifier | AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores. |
| Collection Name | AZB | Marine macroalgae collection of Pico Island (Azores) – Project PICOBEL |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | 6163248c-236b-4778-99cf-39dbf28a9784 |
| Parent Collection Identifier | AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores |
| Collection Name | AZB | Marine macroalgae collection of Pico Island (Azores) – Project LAUMACAT |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | b4ed4e44-3e8f-42d4-a44b-d78585a8f8f0 |
| Parent Collection Identifier | AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores |
| Collection Name | AZB | Marine macroalgae collection of Pico Island (Azores) – Occasional sampling |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | acc4fc70-0cb6-496e-982c-9207d09b856a |
| Parent Collection Identifier | AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores |
| Collection Name | Marine macroalgae occurrence in Pico Island (Azores) – Expedition AZORES/89 |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | 468e613d-1ce9-4a32-a5f9-c5a8b58545c1 |
| Parent Collection Identifier | N/A |
| Collection Name | Marine macroalgae occurrence in Pico Island (Azores) – Project PICOBEL |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | a8405f3e-fdc6-452d-9dc9-ca1fd3abdf2c |
| Parent Collection Identifier | N/A |
| Collection Name | Marine macroalgae occurrence in Pico Island (Azores) – Project LAUMACAT |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | 84ff06f5-8c7c-4c3c-9296-38ad24b347bd |
| Parent Collection Identifier | N/A |
| Specimen preservation methods | Dried and pressed, Dried, Formalin, Other |
|---|
Bibliographic Citations
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- Borges PJA, 2004. Ambientes litorais nos grupos Central e Oriental do arquipélago dos Açores - conteúdos e dinâmica de microescala. Tese de Doutoramento em Geologia. Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada.
- Boudouresque C-F, Meinesz A & Verlaque M, 1992. Médíterranée. In Boudouresque C-F et aL. (Eds.), Guide des Algues des Mers d'Europe, pp: 138-231. Delachaux et Niestlé, Paris.
- Bridsen D & Forman L (Eds), 1999. The Herbarium Handbook. Third Edition. Kew: The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. xii, 334p., ISBN 1-900347-43-1.
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- Dixon SP & Irvine ML, 1977. Seaweeds of the British Isles. Vol. I Rhodophyta. Part 1 Introduction, Nemaliales, Gigartinales. XI+252p. British Museum (Natural History) London.
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Additional Metadata
Additional information on this study may also be requested to the first author.
| Alternative Identifiers | 6af010f0-8238-4745-8309-21c3f82bd488 |
|---|---|
| http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=pico_seaweed_flora |