Regrowth of Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus under Various Harvesting Regimes in Maine, U.S.A.

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Abstract
The regrowth of A. nodosum and F. vesiculosus following harvest by various methods was studied from Aug. 1973 to Aug. 1976 at 6 sheltered and 2 exposed sites in Maine. Plants were cut at the holdfast (scraped) and at 15 and 25 cm above the substrate. At 5 of the 8 sites there were no significant differences among initial biomasses harvested by the 3 methods. Three successive annual harvests of A. nodosum at the 15 and 25 cm levels yielded successively lower biomasses. The biomass of F. vesiculosus increased in scraped areas with successive reharvests, but remained relatively constant in areas cut at 15 and 25 cm. When present, Littorina littorea retarded or prevented recovery of both species in scraped areas. Recovery was faster in sheltered areas than in exposed regions, but was dependent to a large extent on themorphology and age structure of the Ascophyllum populations.