Biomass and Community Structure of Epilithic Biofilm on the Yellow and East Coasts of Korea

Bo Yeon Kim¹, Seo Kyoung Park¹, Jin Suk Heo¹, Han Gil Choi^1*, Young Sik Kim², Ki Wan Nam³

¹Faculty of Biological Science and Institute of Basic Natural Sciences, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea.
²School of Marine Life Science, Kunsan National University, Kunsan, Korea.
³Department of Marine Biology, Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea.

DOI: 10.4236/ojms.2014.44026                

Abstract

Spatial biomass variation and community structure of epilithic biofilms were examined using cell counts, chlorophyll a extraction, and remote-sensing techniques. Samples were collected at two levels of wave exposure along the Yellow and East Coasts of Korea in December 2010. Cyanobacteria were dominant, occupying about 88% of biofilm, irrespective of wave exposure levels. The cyanobacteria species, Aphanotece spp. was abundant in the Yellow Coast location and Lyngbya spp. was abundant in the East coast location. The representative diatoms were Navicula spp. and Achnanthes spp. on the rocky shores of all study sites. Average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was significantly greater in the Yellow Coast (mean 0.46) than that in the East Coast (mean 0.21); a similar pattern was observed in Vegetation Index (VI). Chlorophyll a content was three times greater on the Yellow Coast (20.50 μg/cm²) than that on the East Coast (8.21 μg/cm²), and it was greater at the Gosapo and Bangpo shore sites than that at the Gyeokpo site, on the Yellow Coast. However, chlorophyll a contents were not different between 23.33 and 17.66 μg/cm² at exposed- and sheltered-shores of Yellow Coast, and were 9.62 μg/cm² and 6.80 μg/cm² on the East Coast. Vegetation indices were positively correlated with chlorophyll a contents. In conclusion, biofilm of Korean upper rocky shore was mainly composed of cyanobacteria and biofilm biomass that differed between the Yellow and East Coast.

Keywords

Biomass, Community Structure, Epilithic Biofilm, NDVI and VI

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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