Seaweed Biology

Abstract

This chapter reviews three types of temperature responses of seaweeds that take place over different timescales: short-term physiological regulation (seconds to minutes), phenotypic acclimation in response to variation of environmental conditions (hours to days), and genetic adaptation to local conditions (up to thousands to millions of years). The effects of temperature on performance traits (i.e., growth and photosynthesis) and temperature tolerance ranges (i.e., survival) have been experimentally determined for a wide variety of seaweed species and explain large-scale biogeographic distribution patterns. In contrast, studies on temperature effects on cellular components (i.e., proteins and membranes) and environmentally induced changes in transcriptional processes still remain scarce. One major obstacle has been the lack of genomic information of seaweed species, which is now increasing. Furthermore, sophisticated ecological niche models have been applied in the recent years to predict geographical areas with suitable environmental conditions for marine seaweed species.