Seasonal Occurrence and Variation in Standing Crop of a Drift Algal Community in the Indian River, Florida

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Abstract
Monthly collections of unattached, free-drifting macroalgae were made from Sept. 1975-Aug. 1976 at 3 stations in a seagrass bed near Ft. Pierce, Florida. The most common species were Dictyota dichotoma, Acanthophora spicifera, Hypnea cervicornis, H. musciformis and Spyridia filamentosa. Chondria tenuissima occurred as a winter-spring dominant. Seasonal changes in standing crop of these plants are described. Total algal biomass maxima occurred in spring and early fall when water temperatures ranged from 23-27.degree. C and light energy averaged 400-500 Langleys/day. Minimum total biomass occurred in summer. Frequency distributions of algal biomass were contagious in Sept. and from Jan.-May suggesting aggregated populations. Low randomness (.rho.) values in the other months are suggestive of a regular distributional pattern. Problems involved in sampling this community are discussed and comparisons with other studies are presented.