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The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, contains approximately 144,000 acres southeast of Lake Okeechobee. The interior portion of the refuge is rainfall driven, resulting in waters with low dissolved ions and slightly acidic. Desmids, a unique, ornate group of green algae loosely associated with submerged vascular plants, were photo-documented for the first time from this location. The canal system surrounding the refuge contains a high level of ions from agricultural runoff, and intrusion of this water into the refuge interior during high canal water levels may have suppressed some of the desmid population. A transect from the canal to the ombrotrophic interior was sampled every three months and the species present were identified and catalogued. More than 200 species from 31 genera were found. The interior of the refuge had the greatest diversity; however, the areas of the refuge most affected by canal water intrusion, such as the western perimeter, still contained a population of desmids. We postulate that the diversity of desmids in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge may be an important refuge for desmids and other freshwater algae in North America, particularly for those species restricted to the subtropical portions of the United States. |
