The phytobenthos of the Hornsund fiord, SW Spitsbergen

Abstract

The species composition and biomass of material collected in the summers 1981 and 1983 from 69 stations in the Hornsund fiord were analysed. 48 macroalgal taxa were found: 13 green algae, 18 brown algae and 17 red algae. 19 of these taxa were not reported from the nearby Isfjorden. The overall biomass for the littoral zone varied from 0 to 216gnT2 formalin d.w., although in J of samples the biomass was between 20 and 80 gm_z. The dominant species were Fucus distichus, Acrosiphonia duriusada and Pilayella littoralis. Using cluster analysis, an attempt was made to delimit regions with a characteristic species composition. The results obtained, however, do not permit this in the littoral zone of the Hornsund fiord.