Aysu Guresen, Emine Suran Okudan, Yelda Aktan, Huseyin Erdogan, Berrin Dural, Veysel Aysel
The present paper aims to describe the marine flora occurring on the continental shelf of Gökçeada Island (North Aegean) based on the review of the long-term researches (1973-2016) which provided qualitative information on many taxa including Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta and Tracheophyta. Eight species (Polysiphonia brevearticulata, Ceramium codii, Gymnothamnion elegans, Spermothamnion repens, Lophosiphonia cristata, Hydrolithon cruciatum, Leathesia marina, Caulerpa racemosa) and one variety (Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea) recorded during the present study are the new records for Gökçeada Island. The new recorded species belonging to Rhodophyta were found as opportunistic-filamentous and crustose epiphytic forms on Posidonia oceanica leaf blades during the years 2009-2016. The presence of Caulerpa racemosa, the Mediterranean invasive algae and its dispersal around the island proves the ecological threat on the coastal ecosystem of the island due to the touristic boat achorings and bottom trawling. Rhodophyta had the highest number of species dominated the macroalgal composition with 178 species followed by the contributions of Ochrophyta and Chlorophyta and Cyanobacteria with 78, 64 and 25 species, respectively. As for the marine phanerogams (Tracheophyta) that contribute as key ecosystems to the biological diversity were recorded as 1% of the systematic groups in the region presenting three genus (Cymodocea, Posidonia, Zostera) but covering vast areas. After all the future goals of this research are to develop a checklist of marine flora along the littoral zones of Gökçeada Island (North Aegean) presenting the last biodiversity situation and a detailed herbarium collection for the museum of Istanbul University Gökçeada Marine Research Department.
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