3. Results
3.1. Field collections
Reproductive thalli were found throughout the year
(Fig. 3) and ranged in length from 1 to 44 cm. The
majority of purely vegetative thalli were collected in the
high-intertidal zone, and were all ≤4 cm long.
3.2. Temporal and spatial effects on neutral spores in
the field
The number of neutral spores released from thalli
was dependent upon the position of the thallus on the
shore (i.e. tidal height). Spore release from thalli
collected in the mid-intertidal zone was 2 orders of
magnitude higher than from thalli in the high-intertidal
zone (F(1,86)=106.21; p=0.000). There was no effect of
tidal cycle (i.e. spring versus neap) on amount of release
at either tidal height. There was a large amount of
variability in the release of spores from both intertidal
zones; however, the thalli growing in the high-intertidal
zone showed less variability (Fig. 4). Survivorship of
neutral spores after release was significantly higher in
neutral spores from high-intertidal thalli (F(1,68)=
25.732; p=0.000).
3.3. Germination experiments
3.3.1. Effect of water motion on neutral spore
germination
Germination of neutral spores was slightly higher in
calm conditions than under shaken conditions (F(1,15)=
17.91; p=0.001; Fig. 5). Day=0 was removed from the
analysis because we did not collect data on the onset of