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5-Year Impact Factor: 1.4
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UN SDG
Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2017, Vol 17, Num, 5     (Pages: 911-919)

Nitrogen, Phosphorus and N: P Ratio in Macroalgae of Two Lagoon Systems of NW Mexico

María Julia Ochoa-Izaguirre 1 ,Domenico Voltolina 2 ,Griselda Victorino-Sánchez 1

1 Facultad de Ciencias del Mar. Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Paseo Claussen s/n. CP 82000, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México
2 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste. Laboratorio UAS-CIBNOR, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México
DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v17_5_07 Viewed : 4366 - Downloaded : 3401 In this work we aimed to determine if different sources of anthropogenic impact of different water bodies may affect the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents of macroalgae biomass. To this end, samples of water and macroalgae were collected every second month in Urías lagoon (UR) and in Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón (AL and EP) lagoonal system of NW Mexico. The order of concentrations of dissolved N was UR> EP>AL (P<0.001), that of reactive P was EP>UR>AL (P < 0.001). The N content of the macroalgal biomass of the three lagoons was not significantly different, but the P content was significantly (P <0.001) lower in UR than in EP and AL. The N: P ratios in algal biomass seemed to indicate that N was below optimum values for growth in AL and EP, while P was below optimum in UR. However, the algae N and P contents were consistently high in the three lagoons, indicating adequate concentrations of external nutrients for optimum growth. Keywords : Coastal lagoons, macroalgae, nutrients, eutrophication, algae biomass