Patterns of biodiversity and distribution of epifaunal assemblages inhabited in several brown algae along Korean coasts

초록

Myriad of invertebrate epifauna affect ecology of marine macroalgae and transfer energy to higher trophic levels. Study of dynamics of epifaunal assemblages and their relationship with macroalgae is essential to understand the true nature of marine forests and to establish the management strategy that enables to maintain healthy habitats. Epifaunal assemblages show great spatio-temporal variations according to the biological and physical factors such as temperature, abundance of epiphytic algae, predation pressure, competition or recruitment. Shape and structural complexity of macroalgae are also important in determining patterns of distribution and abundance of epifauna, and these factors are probable causes that explain the occurrence of different epifaunal assemblages among different macroalgal species. Although several studies have been comparing how different species of macroalgae influence the abundance, richness, and diversity of epifaunal assemblages, few studies have dealt with algal thallus and holdfast together. We analyzed species composition and distribution patterns of epifaunal assemblages inhabited in several brown algae in reference to space and time, algal species, and parts of algae (thallus and holdfast), and discussed the results in the viewpoint of biodiversity and community characteristics.