Algal Succession in a Hot Spring Community
Kullberg RG. 1982. Algal Succession in a Hot Spring Community. The American Midland Naturalist. 108(2):224-244
Algal samples from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, were taken at 10 temperature intervals, 10 m apart, from 57.2 C downstream to 45.7 C, and then the entire visible community was removed. No successional stage had more than 17 species but four species were noticeably the dominants in the descending order of: Synechococcus lividus , Mastigocladus laminosus , Phormidium laminosum and P. angustissimum . These dominants comprised 94.56% of the frequency and 70.69% of the volume in the climax community, increasing to 97.37% of the frequency and 91.77% of the volume in the 1st week seral stage. The uniform conditions in the hot spring environment, and the uniformity of the community (blue green algae) created a situation paradoxical with the competitive exclusion principle by which hierarchal order and diversity were maintained during the seral stages. The combined actions of individual populations, each in exponential growth, may have been responsible for the community overshooting the carrying capacity of the environment for diversity before returning to the carrying capacity of the climax community.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Kullberg, Russell
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Algae, Ecosystems, Hot Springs, Mastigocladus laminosus, Microbiology, Phormidium angustissimum, Phormidium laminosum, Synechococcus lividus