Study of Sargassum muticum impact on the surrounding algae in the Moroccan Atlantic coast

Abstract

The study carried out in two sites of the Moroccan Atlantic coasts (El-Jadida and Lahdida) to evaluate the effect of the invasive species Sargassum muticum (brown algae), shows that it has negative effects on the distribution of the surrounding algae. It has been noted that there is a higher abundance of this species in the El-Jadida area as it is a more polluted site than Lahdida. This promotes its rapid proliferation in this area and has negative effects on other naturally occurring species in the same area. Sargassum muticum has very high resistance to abrupt changes in environmental parameters and deprives other species of mineral salts and light due to the lengthening of its thalli which can reach more than 2.5 meters in March in El Jadida area. It is therefore concluded that the presence of the invasive species Sargassum muticum has caused an imbalance in its growth media because it has physiological characteristics of resistance and rapid regeneration that allow it to proliferate at the expense of other species.