Round-the-world news

A bloom of the green macroalga Cladophora has been recently reported from the island of Bermuda. The alga has increased considerably since the late 1960s and at present, mats of Cladophora averaging 10 cm in depth cover large areas of protected inshore waters of Bermuda. The present study was conducted to examine the production of Cladophora under a variety of light and nutrient conditions in order to isolate some of the environmental factors controlling its spread. Productivity of Cladophora was measured using the C-14 technique under field conditions. Production was calculated using data on biomass and C-14 uptake, and was found to average about 3.3 g C m^?2 day^?1 during December 1976 at an experimental site. The possible causes for the algal bloom are discussed and the rates of production related to known rates of other marine macroalgae.