Article: Red algae respond to waves: morphological and mechanical variation in Mastocarpus papillatus along a gradient of force.

Introduction

Of all the organisms that inhabit the intertidal zone of rocky shores, sessile macroalgae face particularly great challenges in dealing with the effects of wave-induced water motion. Because algae lack the ability to "run and hide" during storms and their material strength is low relative to other biological materials (Denny et al., 1989), algal distribution and abundance may be constrained by wave force (e.g., Shaughnessy et al., 1996). The question of whether algal populations respond to variation in wave intensity with morphological or mechanical adjustments to their shape or strength remains both open and intriguing.

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