Effects of light, temperature and stocking density on Halopteris scoparia growth

• Published in: Journal of applied phycology Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 405 - 411
• Main Authors: Patarra, Rita F., Carreiro, Ana S., Lloveras, Anna A., Abreu, Maria H., Buschmann, Alejandro H., Neto, Ana I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-02-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquaculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cosmetics; Cultivation; Ecology; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Halopteris; Halopteris scoparia; Life Sciences; Natural resources; Overexploitation; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Scoparia; Sustainable harvest; ANE, Europe; Light intensity; Cultivation; Growth; Stocking density
• ISSN: 0921-8971; 1573-5176
• DOI: 10.1007/s10811-016-0933-1

Halopteris scoparia
(Linnaeus) Sauvageau is a cosmopolitan species, common in warm and cold temperate waters around Europe. Several studies have revealed the importance of the genus
Halopteris
to the nutraceutical and cosmetics industries due to its biological activities. The overexploitation of this natural resource must be prevented, both with sustainable harvesting and cultivation practices. This study investigated the effect of different stocking densities (SD) on the relative growth rate (RGR) and productivity of
H. scoparia
. A factorial experiment, using the best SD, was then run to test the combined effects of temperature and irradiance on the in vitro vegetative growth of
H. scoparia
. Overall, obtained results indicate
H. scoparia
appears to be a potential target species for aquaculture exploitation. It can grow in a wide range of temperatures (14 to 24 °C) providing irradiance is maintained under 150 μmol photons m
−2
s
−1
in order to restrain the development of epiphytes. Although promising, the methodologies adopted here require demonstration at larger-scale cultivation conditions, before moving to their effective implementation.