Publication Date:
2021-11-29
Description:
Blue mussels and macroalgae play important roles concerning the habitat in marine waters. More precisely they act as biofilters for nutrients, substrate for settlement and as oxygen consumers and producers respectively. The aim of this diploma thesis was to measure the interaction of blue mussels and algae individually and regarding the habitat. Consequently, blue mussels and two different algae were cultivated together and separately from each other once in free waters and once in mesocosms. Free water experiments were installed in the water column at one meter depth while the experiments in the mesocosms were installed on shore. According to the aim of measuring two different algae, two experimental series followed one another: first, the invasive red algae Gracilaria vermiculophylla and thereafter the endemic brown algae Fucus were tested, each with and without Mytilus edulis. Measurements were being taken not only of the growth but as well of oxygen concentrations, nutrients and C/N-values. For the mussels theweights of the flesh and the shell and their proportion to each other were additionally identified. To summarize the results it was found that the nutrient assimilating phototrophic algae were able to grow better in a habitat surrounded by mussels. The enhanced growth was probably caused by improved nutrition due to the mussel nutrient excretion. In presence of algae the oxygen concentration of water in the mesocosms was influenced positively. Concerning the concentration of nutrients, C/N-values and flesh/ shell-values the measurements showed that the form of treatment ( combined or isolated) was not influencing the results in any way.
Type:
Thesis
,
NonPeerReviewed
Format:
text
Format:
text
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