Role of biofilm in controlling the recruitment of a canopy-forming alga

The study allowed to assess the effects of microbial biofilms developed at sites characterized by different anthropogenic activities on the settlement of the canopy-forming alga Ericaria amentacea. In the field, plexiglas supports with clay tiles were deployed in different study sites in the Ligurian Sea and allowed colonization by a bacterial biofilm. In the laboratory, gametes from apical fronds of E. amentacea were released on the tiles and the settlement of zygotes and the survival of germlings was monitored.