Preliminary quantitative investigations of cystoseirae in the Split area
Abstract
Preliminary quantitative investigations of the most frequent Adriatic species of the genus Cystoseirae (C. barbata, C. abrotanifolia, and C. spicata) were carried out in June 1956.
The investigations aimed at obtaining the first data on the quantities of Cystoseirae occurring in the Adriatic with a view to their industrial exploitation and to devising and checking a method that would suitably apply for determination of quantities of these algae available along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea.
The investigated area, extending for 72 kilometres, covered the inshore waters along the coast from Split to Omiš, around Trogir, and a part of the Bay of Kaštela (fig. 1).
The estimated quantity of wet Cystoseirae available in the whole of the investigated area amounts to 764 tons, and the calculated mean value (a1) of population density amounts to 1,21 kilograms to a square metre (Tab. 1).
These investigations have shown that the quantities of Cystoseirae available in the area vary to a considerable extent in its different parts. The physical nature of the substratum, the degree of exposure of the habitat, and the rate of slope of the coast cause the quantities to vary. Solid rock substratum favours the establishement of permanent colonies of these algae and their development, while the magnitude of their biomass is dependent upon the rate of slope of the coast - a slight slope involving a much wider zone of growth - and upon the degree of exposure of the habitat the strength of which affects the abundant growth and the length of tali of the algae.
