Relationship between tissue phosphorus and seawater phosphate in the brown alga Hormosira banksii

Abstract

We measured tissue phosphorus content of high and low intertidal Hormosira banksii to test the hypothesis that tissue phosphorus content would be greater in individuals from the low intertidal because of greater total uptake associated with longer immersion in seawater. Moreover, we predicted that tissue phosphorus would be greater at sites where the seawater contained higher phosphate concentrations. There was a positive, linear relationship between local seawater phosphate concentrations and tissue phosphorus content of H. banksii from high and low intertidal zones at six different sites in winter. However, there were no comparable relationships in summer, even though the range of seawater phosphate concentration was similar in both seasons. The phosphorus contents of low intertidal H. banksii were significantly greater than high intertidal H. banksii in winter, but not in summer. Reasons for these differences may be related to greater access to seawater phosphate in low intertidal algae (than those in the high intertidal) in winter, followed by greater utilisation of the internal phosphorus between winter and summer, due to faster growth rates in the low intertidal.