Marine benthic algal flora of Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive checklist of the marine benthic macroalgal flora of Ascension Island (tropical South Atlantic Ocean), based on both new collections and previous literature. 82 marine macroalgae were identified from our work, including 18 green algae (Ulvophyceae), 15 brown algae (Phaeophyceae) and 49 red algae (Rhodophyta). Among our collections, 38 species and infraspecific taxa are reported for the first time from Ascension Island, including seven green, three brown and 28 red macroalgae, raising the total number of seaweeds recorded in Ascension so far to 112 taxa in species and infraspecific level. No seagrasses have been recorded at Ascension Island.

Current knowledge, status, and future for plant and fungal diversity in Great Britain and the UK Overseas Territories

“…South Georgia has a unique and diverse seaweed flora with 127 species (Wells, Brewin, & Brickle, 2011). Price and John (1980) recorded 52 species for Ascension, increased to 82 by Tsiamis et al (2017).…”

Tetrasporangial plants of Monosporus indicus (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta): a new alien in the Mediterranean Sea

“…The first report of its presence outside its tropical home range was in the subtropical sea of Korea (Kim & Lee, 1990). Later, it was recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean, Florida (Ballantine, 1996), Puerto Rico (Ballantine & Aponte, 1997) and Venezuela (García et al, 2011), and in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean, at Ascension Island (Tsiamis et al, 2014). Fig.…”

The future of marine biodiversity and marine ecosystem functioning in UK coastal and territorial waters (including UK Overseas Territories) – with an emphasis on marine macrophyte communities

“…They should clearly be a priority for research and conservation in these areas. Around Ascension Island, both non-geniculate coralline red algae and maerl are the major reef builders, where corals are almost completely absent (Price and John 1978, Price and John 1980, Tsiamis et al 2017. Likewise, extensive coralline red algal beds are common in the hard-bottom understory of the kelp forest around the Falklands (see Graphical Abstract), but little more is known about them.…”