Monitoring for the abundance and distribution of macroalgae along Suez Canal, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Aquatic Environment, Faculty of Fish Resources, Suez University, Egypt

2 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, New Damietta, Egypt

Abstract

Suez Canal is a vital navigational passageway linking between east and west. The present study monitored both water quality and macroalgal groups, in five sites (Port Said, Qantara, Ismailia, Fayed and Suez) along Suez Canal, throughout one year. Physico-chemical properties of water exhibited local variations, giving noticeable maximum concentrations of most parameters at Suez. Total of 34 macroalgal species were recorded (14 Chlorophyta, 12 Phaeophyta and 8 Rhodophyta). Species of Phaeophyta dominated the three middle sites (Qantara, Ismailia and Faied), Chlorophyta had the superiority within Suez and Port Said. Meanwhile, regarding the abundance of macroalgal groups, Chlorophyta dominated over Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta in three sites (Suez, Fayed and Port Said), where, it formed 89% of the total macroalgal vegetation at Suez and 51% at Fayed, however at Port Said it represent 44% . Meanwhile, Rhodophyta dominated over the other macroalgal group at Ismailia. Multivariate analysis revealed the relation between macroalgal distribution and environmental parameter, also clarified the relations between the algal species, providing baseline information along the Suez Canal. The low number of recorded species indicating the importance to follow up the rapid increase in human activities in Suez Canal to improve the situation through regular monitoring.

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