Distributional patterns of microalgae were studied in the tidal flats of Gamami Beach(Young-Gwang, Korea) from November 1999 to 2000 July. The tidal flats of Gamami Beach was composed mainly of sandy sediment. The concentrations of nutrients were low compared with other tidal flats. In the present study, 68 species of microalgal flora were identified. These were comprised of 25 species of benthic microalgae and 59 species of planktonic microalgae. Diatoms predominated the benthic microalgae with 96.0% of total species occurred. Dominant species were Amphora sp., Cocconeis sp., Coscinodiscus asteromphalus, Coscinodiscus sp., Nitzschia sigma var. intermedia, Nitzschia distans, Navicula spp., Paralia sulcata, Pleurosigma sp. Skeletonema coastatum, and Surirella sp. Among them, Amphora sp., Paralia sulcata, and species of Pleurosigma and Nitzschia were observed throughout the studied period. Planktonic microalgae of Gamami Beach was also predominated by diatoms. They occupied 88.1% of total planktonic microalgae. The density of microalgal population was higher in silty sediment than in sandy sediment. The population density of microalgae was higher in high tide zone than that in low tide zone. The density of the benthic microalgae in the surface layer of tidal flats showed increasing tendency for 2 hours after the beginning of ebb tide. On the contrary, benthic microalgal density of subsurface layer was decreased during the period. Concentrations of chlorophyll a from sediment and water were not synchronized during the study period. Therefore, the distributional patterns of the benthic microalgae and planktonic algae seemed not to be related. Chlorophyll a of water was highly related with the concentration of NH4-N, whereas, chlorophyll a of sediment was related with NO3-N concentration.

• 이학영(전남대학교 생명과학부) | Hak-Young Lee Corresponding Author