from Nongeniculate coralline algae @ http://196.21.43.2/clines.htm)
Corallines as carbon stores
Coralline algae take up carbon for use in the process of photosynthesis, as do most plants, but they have an additional mechanism of carbon uptake, the calcification process. Calcium is deposited in the cell walls of coralline algae in the form of calcium carbonate. One of the most exciting pieces of information which I have recently received came from a Brazilian marine biologist, E.C. de Oliveira, who has presented evidence that coralline algae may be one of the largest stores of carbon in the biosphere. If this is so, then they urgently need to be studied, since we know so little about even their basic ecology, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
Corallines in community ecology Many corallines produce chemicals which promote the settlement of the larvae of certain herbivorous invertebrates, particularly abalone. This is adaptive for the corallines as the herbivores then remove epiphytes which might otherwise smother the crusts and pre-empt available light. This is also important for abalone aquaculture, as corallines appear to enhance larval metamorphosis and the survival of larvae through the critical settlement period. It also has significance at the community level, as the presence of herbivores associated with corallines can generate patchiness in the survival of young stages of dominant seaweeds. I have seen this in eastern Canada, and I suspect the same phenomenon occurs on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, yet nothing is known about the herbivore enhancement role of Indo-Pacific corallines, or whether this phenomenon is important in our coral reef communities.
Some corallines slough off a surface layer of epithallial cells, which in a few cases may be an anti-fouling mechanism which serves the same function as enhancing herbivore recruitment. This also affects the community, as many algae recruit on the surface of a sloughing coralline, and are then lost with the surface layer of cells. This can also generate patchiness within the community. The common Indo-Pacific corallines Neogoniolithon sp. and Sporolithon ptychoides slough epithallial cells in continuous sheets which often lie on the surface of the plants looking so much like wet tissue paper. Not all sloughing serves an anti-fouling function. Epithallial shedding in most corallines is probably simply a means of getting rid of damaged cells whose metabolic function has become impaired. Sloughing in the South African intertidal coralline algae, Spongites yendoi, was studied and it was found it sloughs up to 50% of its thickness twice a year. This deep-layer sloughing, which is energetically costly, does not have any effect on seaweed recruitment when herbivores are removed. The surface of these plants is usually kept clean by herbivores, particularly the pear limpet, Patella cochlear. Sloughing in this case is probably a means of getting rid of old reproductive structures and grazer-damaged surface cells, and reducing the likelihood of surface penetration by burrowing organisms.
Some coralline algae develop into thick crusts which provide microhabitat for many invertebrates. For example, off eastern Canada, ,juvenile sea urchins, chitons, and limpets suffer nearly 100% mortality due to fish predation unless they are protected by knobby and under-cut coralline algae. This is probably an important factor affecting the distribution and grazing effects of herbivores within marine communities. Nothing is known about the microhabitat role of Indo-Pacific corallines. However, the most common species in the region, Hydrolithon onkodes, often forms an intimate relationship with the chiton Cryptoplax larvaeformis. The chiton lives in burrows that it makes in H. onkodes plants, and comes out at night to graze on the surface of the coralline. This combination of grazing and burrowing results in a peculiar growth form (called castles) in H. onkodes in which the coralline produces nearly vertical, irregularly curved lamellae.
Non-geniculate corallines are of particular significance in the ecology of coral reefs, where they provide calcareous material to the structure of the reef, help cement the reef together, and are mportant sources of primary production. Coralline algae are especially important in reef construction, as they lay down calcium carbonate as calcite. Although they contribute considerable bulk to the calcium carbonate structure of coral reefs, their more important role in most areas of the reef, is in acting as the cement which binds the reef materials together into a solid and sturdy structure.
An area where corallines are particularly important in cobnstructing reef framework is in the algal ridge that characterizes surf-pounded reefs in both the Atlantic and Indo-Pacfic regions. Algal ridges are carbonate frameworks that are constructed mainly by nongeniculate coralline algae (after Adey 1978). They require high and persistent wave action to form, so are best developed on the windward reefs in areas where there is little or no seasonal change in wind direction. Algal ridges are one of the main reef structures that prevent oceanic waves from striking adjacent coastlines, and they thus help to prevent coastal erosion.
Economic importance
Despite their hard, calcified nature, coralline algae have a number of economic uses. One use dates back to the 18th century, and involves the collection of unattached corallines (maerl) for use as soil conditioners. This is particularly significant in Britain and France, where more 300 000 tonnes of Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides are dredged annually. Several thousand kilometres of maerl beds, composed of as-yet undetermined species belonging to the genera Lithothamnion and Lithophyllum, exist off the coast of Brazil, and have been subjected to a low level of commercial exploitation. Maerl is also used as a food additive for cattle and pigs, as well as in the filtration of acidic drinking water.
Corallines are also used in medicine, where the earliest use involved the preparation of a vermifuge from ground geniculate corallines of the genera Corallina and Jania. This use stopped towards the end of the 18th century. Modern medical science has found a more high-tech use for corallines in the preparation of dental bone implants. Apparently, the cell fusions provide an ideal matrix for the regeneration of bone tissue. Since coralline algae contain calcium carbonate, they fossilize fairly well. They are useful as stratigraphic markers of particular significance in petroleum geology. Coralline rock has also been used as building stones, with the best examples being in Vienna, Austria.
Some corallines slough off a surface layer of epithallial cells, which in a few cases may be an anti-fouling mechanism which serves the same function as enhancing herbivore recruitment. This also affects the community, as many algae recruit on the surface of a sloughing coralline, and are then lost with the surface layer of cells. This can also generate patchiness within the community. The common Indo-Pacific corallines Neogoniolithon sp. and Sporolithon ptychoides slough epithallial cells in continuous sheets which often lie on the surface of the plants looking so much like wet tissue paper. Not all sloughing serves an anti-fouling function. Epithallial shedding in most corallines is probably simply a means of getting rid of damaged cells whose metabolic function has become impaired. Sloughing in the South African intertidal coralline algae, Spongites yendoi, was studied and it was found it sloughs up to 50% of its thickness twice a year. This deep-layer sloughing, which is energetically costly, does not have any effect on seaweed recruitment when herbivores are removed. The surface of these plants is usually kept clean by herbivores, particularly the pear limpet, Patella cochlear. Sloughing in this case is probably a means of getting rid of old reproductive structures and grazer-damaged surface cells, and reducing the likelihood of surface penetration by burrowing organisms.
Some coralline algae develop into thick crusts which provide microhabitat for many invertebrates. For example, off eastern Canada, ,juvenile sea urchins, chitons, and limpets suffer nearly 100% mortality due to fish predation unless they are protected by knobby and under-cut coralline algae. This is probably an important factor affecting the distribution and grazing effects of herbivores within marine communities. Nothing is known about the microhabitat role of Indo-Pacific corallines. However, the most common species in the region, Hydrolithon onkodes, often forms an intimate relationship with the chiton Cryptoplax larvaeformis. The chiton lives in burrows that it makes in H. onkodes plants, and comes out at night to graze on the surface of the coralline. This combination of grazing and burrowing results in a peculiar growth form (called castles) in H. onkodes in which the coralline produces nearly vertical, irregularly curved lamellae.
Non-geniculate corallines are of particular significance in the ecology of coral reefs, where they provide calcareous material to the structure of the reef, help cement the reef together, and are mportant sources of primary production. Coralline algae are especially important in reef construction, as they lay down calcium carbonate as calcite. Although they contribute considerable bulk to the calcium carbonate structure of coral reefs, their more important role in most areas of the reef, is in acting as the cement which binds the reef materials together into a solid and sturdy structure.
An area where corallines are particularly important in cobnstructing reef framework is in the algal ridge that characterizes surf-pounded reefs in both the Atlantic and Indo-Pacfic regions. Algal ridges are carbonate frameworks that are constructed mainly by nongeniculate coralline algae (after Adey 1978). They require high and persistent wave action to form, so are best developed on the windward reefs in areas where there is little or no seasonal change in wind direction. Algal ridges are one of the main reef structures that prevent oceanic waves from striking adjacent coastlines, and they thus help to prevent coastal erosion.
Economic importance
Despite their hard, calcified nature, coralline algae have a number of economic uses. One use dates back to the 18th century, and involves the collection of unattached corallines (maerl) for use as soil conditioners. This is particularly significant in Britain and France, where more 300 000 tonnes of Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides are dredged annually. Several thousand kilometres of maerl beds, composed of as-yet undetermined species belonging to the genera Lithothamnion and Lithophyllum, exist off the coast of Brazil, and have been subjected to a low level of commercial exploitation. Maerl is also used as a food additive for cattle and pigs, as well as in the filtration of acidic drinking water.
Corallines are also used in medicine, where the earliest use involved the preparation of a vermifuge from ground geniculate corallines of the genera Corallina and Jania. This use stopped towards the end of the 18th century. Modern medical science has found a more high-tech use for corallines in the preparation of dental bone implants. Apparently, the cell fusions provide an ideal matrix for the regeneration of bone tissue. Since coralline algae contain calcium carbonate, they fossilize fairly well. They are useful as stratigraphic markers of particular significance in petroleum geology. Coralline rock has also been used as building stones, with the best examples being in Vienna, Austria.
