Effects of Freezing on Intertidal Seaweeds

亚极地和温带地区的潮间带藻类在冬季潮汐暴露期经历了频繁和严重的冰冻。在反复冰冻中存活的能力是一种重要的适应能力，可能会对垂直分带产生很大影响。与高等植物相比，人们对冷冻对海洋大型藻类的生态或生理影响知之甚少。这项研究将通过检测冰冻对光合作用的影响，重点研究冰冻作为亚致死胁迫的作用，它会降低生长，或许还会降低竞争能力。研究将解决以下问题：(1)什么机制对抗冻负责，(2)相同的机制是否同时赋予抗冻和抗干燥能力，(3)由于遗传适应或表型驯化，物种间抗冻能力的差异是否与潮汐高度有关，以及(4)冰冻适应的相对重要性在不同的上游地区是否有所不同，耐受压力，和较低海岸，竞争藻类？这项调查将有助于我们了解冰冻作为一种生态因素，并解决对所有研究潮间带的科学家具有普遍重要性的问题。

Intertidal algae in sub-polar and temperate regions experience frequent and severe freezing during tidal emersion in the winter. The ability to survive repeated freezing is an important adaptation, and may greatly influence vertical zonation. In contrast to higher plants, relatively little is known about the ecological or physiological effects of freezing on marine macroalgae. This research will focus on the role of freezing as a sub-lethal stress, which reduces growth and perhaps competitive ability, by examining the effect of freezing on photosynthesis. The research will address the following questions: (1) what mechanisms are responsible for freezing resistance, (2) does the same mechanism confer resistance to both freezing and desiccation, (3) are interspecific differences in freezing resistance correlated with tidal height due to genetic adaptation or phenotypic acclimation, and (4) does the relative importance of freezing acclimation vary between upper-shore, stress tolerant, and lower-shore, competitive algae? This investigation will contribute to our knowledge of freezing as an ecological factor, and also address questions of general importance to all scientists studying the intertidal zone.