Abstract
Green tides at Yatsu tidal flat, Tokyo Bay, Japan, were first reported in 1995 and formed by a bloom only of free-floating Ulva species. On the tidal flat, the bloom area in well-developed periods increased after 1995 and covered 27.1 ha in May 2002. Based on vertical aerial photographs, green tide remaining in winter during 1996–2007 covered 4.7 ha when first observed in 1999 and increased to 17.5 ha in January 2002 thereafter. We found that the expansion of green tide was related to such factors as an increase in Kira’s Warmth Index, a decrease in annual cumulative hourly air temperatures below 7°C in December, an increase in salinity, and unintentional introduction of Ulva ohnoi. We also found that green tide at Yatsu tidal flat occurred in the course of the improvement of water quality.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Yatsu Higata Nature Observation Center and the Environment Bureau in Narashino City Office for permission to conduct field surveys. We are grateful to these organizations also for providing valuable documents, including the oblique photographs. We thank Dr. M. Hiraoka (Kochi University), Mr. K. Kamiya (Yonago Waterbird Sanctuary), Ms. M. Nakamura (Tottori University), and Mr. A. Hasegawa (Narashino City Office) for useful suggestions and for providing valuable literature; and Mr. K. Satake (NIES) and Dr. H. Utagawa (NIES) for field observations; Dr. M. Tamaoki (NIES) and Dr. N. Nakajima (NIES) for their interest and encouragement. This study was partly supported by “The restoration of coastal ecosystems with ecological functions of marine macrophyte beds” Project of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan and KAKENHI (nos. 18510026 and 16255004).
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Yabe, T., Ishii, Y., Amano, Y. et al. Green tide formed by free-floating Ulva spp. at Yatsu tidal flat, Japan. Limnology 10, 239–245 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-009-0278-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-009-0278-4