Technical Report No. 22

GREEN MACROALGAE IN ESTUARIES OF PUGET SOUND AND THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA: A COMPARISON OF SPECIES ASSEMBLAGES

Hillary S. Hayden and J. Robert Waaland

1999

Bibliographic Citation
Hayden, Hillary S. and J. Robert Waaland. 1999. Green macroalgae in estuaries of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia: a comparison of species assemblages. Washington State Department of Ecology (Publication No. 00-06-008), Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Technical Report No. 22, Mount Vernon, Washington. 24 pp.

Abstract
In northeast Pacific estuaries, macroalgae form multispecies assemblages which often include species of the Ulvaceae (Chlorophyta), commonly known as "ulvoids''. The green macroalgae of the Padilla Bay Estuarine Research Reserve was mapped by Bulthuis (1991) and studied further Hayden and Waaland in 1996-1997 (in press). The goals of the current study were to determine whether the assemblage of green macroalgae in Padilla Bay is similar to that of other Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia estuaries and if there is a diagnostic assemblage found in these northeast Pacific habitats. Two estuaries in Washington state were chosen for comparison: Drayton Harbor and Ellisport/Tramp Harbor. Chlorophytic macroalgae were collected on three days at four or five sites in each estuary from 26 April to 21 August 1998. The Sørensen coefficient (Ss) was used to assess the similarity of macroalgal assemblages. This study indicates that green macroalgal species diversity in Padilla Bay is similar to that in similar habitats in Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia. Additionally, a diagnostic assemblage of green macroalgae in northeast Pacific mixed-fines estuaries includes a relatively short list of species.