Effect of temperature, salinity and irradiance on growth and photosynthesis of Ulva prolifera

Intensive Pyropia aquaculture in the coast of southwestern Yellow Sea and its subsequent waste, including disposed Ulva prolifera, was speculated to be one of the major sources for the large-scale green tide proceeding in the Yellow Sea since 2007. It was, however, unclear how the detached U. prolifera responded and resumed growing after they detached from its original habitat. In this study, we investigated the growth and photosynthetic response of the detached U. prolifera to various temperature, salinity and irradiance in the laboratory. The photosynthetic rate of the detached U. prolifera was significantly higher at moderate temperature levels (14–27°C) and high salinity (26–32), with optimum at 23°C and 32. Both low (<14°C) and highest temperature (40°C), as well as low salinity (8) had adverse effects on the photosynthesis. Compared with the other Ulva species, U. prolifera showed higher saturated irradiance and no significant photoinhibition at high irradiance, indicating the great tolerance of U. prolifera to the high irradiance. The dense branch and complex structure of floating mats could help protect the thalli and reduce photoinhibition in field. Furthermore, temperature exerted a stronger influence on the growth rate of the detached U. prolifera compared to salinity. Overall, the high growth rate of this detached U. prolifera (10.6%–16.7% d–1) at a wide range of temperature (5–32°C) and salinity (14–32) implied its blooming tendency with fluctuated salinity and temperature during floating. The environmental parameters in the southwestern Yellow Sea at the beginning of green tide were coincident with the optimal conditions for the detached U. prolifera.