Research Document - 2001/117
Distribution and abundance of marine plants in the nearshore of Cape Breton in potential oil and gas exploration areas
By G. Sharp, R. Semple, B. Pilgrim
Abstract
This document integrates all readily available data on the distribution and abundance of macro-algae from potential oil and gas explorations areas on the Gulf of St Lawrence and Atlantic coasts of Cape Breton. Early phycological collections identified 126 species in a series of collections. Due to the lack of data in the western Cape Breton license area additonal ground truthing was required of air photo data that had identified a minimum of 1285 hectares of algal cover. Three depth zones were defined with distinctive dominant species were 0-4 m Chondrus crispus and Cystoclonium purpureum, 4-8 m Fucus serratus, over 8 m Fucellaria lumbricalis. The eastern coast of Cape Breton algal communities were documented in environmental studies and indirectly during sea urchin surveys. The shallow zone was dominated by Fucus serratus and the deeper zone by Laminarians with an understory of tufted reds.
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