Annual Growth Cycle of the Brown Alga Ecklonia kurome (Laminariaceae; Phaeophyta) off Mugi Coast of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

The annual growth cycle of the brown alga, Ecklonia kurome was surveyed by the leaf-marking method from August 1991 through August 1992 off the Mugi coast of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. The growth rates of both stipe (length and diameter) and lateral blades (number and length) were high from December through May, and low from May through December, when lateral blades with sori showed an increase. The annual formation and elongation of lateral blades were greater than the annual decay and withering in the plants with stipe length below 20cm, and were less in plants with stipe length above 24cm. The plants with stipe length of 24cm showed the highest fallout products, which had 78 lateral blades and were 33.5m in length.