Metabolic rates and primary productivity of the marine macroalgae Dictyopteris delicatula in Taganga Bay, Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Metabolic rates and photosynthetic performance of Dictyopteris delicatula were measured in the south of Taganga Bay and on Inca-Inca beach, Colombia, during September and November 2007, as part of a monitoring program of water quality and pollution associated with the stormwater system of the city of Santa Marta. Concentrations of chlorophyll-a of D. delicatula did not show significant differences between both areas but the average rates of net primary productivity and respiration differed significantly, likely due to the effect of the nutrient loadings from the stormwater outlet in Taganga Bay, altering the physiological processes of the macroalgal community