Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc.

Atlantic Oceanographic and Marine Laboratory (NOAA) Coral Health-Related Literature Abstracts

Reef Relief -- protecting living coral reef ecosystems

Dr. Brian Lapointe, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

Divers say this reef off of Palm Beach, Florida has a bottom like "Astroturf" or a "golf course," after becoming overrun by an algae called Caulerpa vertisilada. Coastal pollution is blamed for its spread.

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"Killer seaweed" on south Florida reefs

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Opportunistic seaweed has taken over a three square-mile reef near Palm Beach and is slowly eliminating organisms that usually flourish there. Research Scientist Brian LaPointe has been watching with unique perspective, the growth of what some are calling "killer seaweed" (Brian LaPointe, Senior Reseat Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL) ...

"I grew up in the Palm Beach area and actually learned to dive on the reefs off Palm Beach County."

LaPointe began watching an earlier bloom of a different seaweed ten years ago, and has watched the latest seaweed bloom virtually take over the reef...

"We had heard from local divers that algae blooms -- these are seaweeds, large algae that are now growing on these reefs -- had been overgrowing and crowding out more slower growing corals."

LaPointe believes the seaweed, called Caulerpa vertisilada, is an indicator of nutrient pollution from sewage and fertilizers which serve to promote the algae growth...

"The invasive nature of this bloom renders it a problem to the reefs themselves because where it's abundant now, this single species is covering about 90 percent or more of the bottom."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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A reef choked by seaweed

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Ecologists watching one south Florida reef are concerned about the spread of a seaweed that's virtually taking over the reef. Research Scientist Brian LaPointe says there's reason for concern (Brian LaPointe, Senior Reseat Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL)

"This new, invasive seaweed is now expanding its distribution from where it normally grows in shallow waters around mangroves -- which are naturally nutrient rich environments -- to these deeper, reef environments off Palm Beach."

The seaweed now covers 90% of a six-mile long reef, choking out plants and animals that had lived there before...

"It has a root-like structure called rhizomes and rhizoid that allow it to attach to the reef's surface. And therefore, the swift currents that are characteristic of those reefs don't pull it off the way it pulls off the Codium plants once they become mature."

And LaPointe says the new seaweed situation is just a symptom of a larger problem...

"We think these plants -- both the Codium and the Caulerpa -- are simply biological indicators of a larger scale problem that's affecting south Florida's coastal waters. And again, that's the excess nutrient runoff from land."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Fish lose out to a seaweed bloom

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

As one species of seaweed has all but taken over a six-mile long reef near Palm Beach, scientists are concerned. And although the weed -- Caulerpa vertisilada -- is commonly found in south Florida shallows, Research Scientist Brian LaPointe, says it's a move to deep water that's troubling (Brian LaPointe, Senior Reseat Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL) ...

"Normally in mangrove areas it grows in small patches. That's very different from what it's doing on these deep-reef environments, where it's forming like an Astroturf environment. To go dive on these reefs, it really looks like a golf course down there."

And while a relative of this weed has been a terrible problem in the Mediterranean Sea, Florida's outbreak is unique...

"I don't know of a bloom like this anywhere else in the world, where this particular plant, Caulerpa vertisilada, has formed such an invasive bloom of this nature over such a large area."

And it's that large area that presents the problem...

"It has crowded out native organisms: things like corals and good algae that the herbivorous fish normally feed on. So in that sense, it's going to alter the food web on these reefs."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Is pollution behind a seaweed infestation?

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

As scientists consider ways to control a seaweed that has covered 90% of a six-mile long, south Florida reef, it is the likely cause of the infestation -- not the algae itself -- that concerns them most. Research Scientist, Brian LaPointe (Brian LaPointe, Senior Reseat Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL) ...

"This is a green seaweed that typically shows up in high-nutrient environments, such as around bird islands where you get guano-enrichment of ammonia, nitrate and phosphate. And that clearly indicated to us that these reefs were beginning to experience increased nutrient concentrations -- or these plants wouldn't be there..."

Increased nutrient concentrations -- another way of saying manmade pollution...

"...from sewerage, agricultural runoff, chemical fertilizer production, topsoil loss, a number of human activities on land."

LaPointe believes that same pollution is responsible for other Florida problems...

"The Red Tide off the West Coast of Florida. Also, Florida Bay, we see the extreme and very severe phytoplankton blooms that have developed in Florida Bay as increasd freshwater flow from the Everglades has carried more Nitrogen into that bay."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Controlling a "Killer Seaweed"

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

While nutrient pollution might be cause for one type of seaweed taking over a six-mile long reef off the South Florida coast, the reason it's thriving is that nothing seems to eat what some are calling "Killer Seaweed." But that might be changing with help from scientist Brian LaPointe (Brian LaPointe, Senior Reseat Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, FL) ...

"We would definitely like to figure out if we can control these plants biologically, through certain kinds of herbivores that might be able to eat it. Fish don't seem to really like to eat this plant."

Since it's not a food source, the alga -- called Caulerpa vertisilada -- is choking out the plants and animals that used to live on the reef. But what fish won't eat, perhaps sea slugs will...

"There are some 'specialist' herbivores -- these little sea slugs -- that have a very specialized feeding mechanism. And they can actually attack the Caulerpa, and do so naturally."

But with three square miles of the seaweed to attempt to control, sheer logistics would be a problem...

"You would obviously need a huge number of these little sea slugs to control a bloom like we're talking about."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.