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Site and Light: Looking at factors that affect the growth rate of Saccharina sessilis

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  • Saccharina sessilis, lettuce kelp, is a macroalgae that contributes to the primary production in the intertidal zone off of the Oregon Coast. Macroalgae can serve as a bioindicator of increased nutrient input, water quality, and shifts in the intertidal environment. Competition for light exists between macroalgae species and with other primary producers including phytoplankton. Understanding the growth rate of S. sessilis under varying light conditions is beneficial to track changes in environmental conditions. We measured the growth of S. sessilis under shade and ambient light conditions and recorded the primary production by biomass and length of this macroalgae after experimental light application in field and laboratory trials. Our laboratory results indicate that there is no significant growth difference between the lab samples taken from Boiler Bay (BB) and Strawberry Hill (SH). There was also no significance difference in biomass or length between shaded and unshaded samples. Using a two-way ANOVA test comparing BB and SH daily growth rate for length, our field results indicate there was a significant difference between the means of the length growth rate (p < 0.0001). BB showed a higher mean growth rate of 11.4mm/day while SH had a lower mean growth rate of 5.9. This study contributes in increasing our understanding of how varying light conditions affect the rocky intertidal ecosystem.
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  • Oregon State University
  • Hatfield Marine Science Center
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