Pleurophycus gardneri
species of Phaeophyceae
Pleurophycus gardneri is a species of brown alga. It is a deciduous kelp, primarily found in lower, rocky inter-tidal and shallow, rocky sub-tidal locations and is one of the most abundant kelps found within the Pleurophycus Zone (roughly 30-45m depth). It is not commonly present deeper in the ocean than 30m and is considered a stipitate kelp. P. gardneri forms aggregates of densities up to 10m−2 . These kelp beds reside below giant kelp forests, and were therefore often overlooked by researchers for many years. This kelp has a range from Central California to British Columbia, Canada, with a lifespan of only 3 – 6 years.
The family of P. gardneri was previously believed to be Laminariaceae and not Alariaceae, but molecular data supports this particular kelp to be of the family Alariaceae. P. gardneri has been referred to as Tender Kelp (1980) or Sea spatula (1985).
Interactions with other species
Pleurophycus gardneri is a habitat to many species of amphipod, and most commonly supports species specific to stipe burrowing. Amphipods decrease the lifespan of this kelp due to damages caused by burrowing; any breaks in the plants' holdfast up to its stipe will kill the plant, hence its heightened mortality rate due to stipe burrowing amphipods.
The public source identifies “Pleurophycus gardneri” as species of Phaeophyceae. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pleurophycus, gardneri and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q29347903. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1980 and 1985.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pleurophycus gardneri” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.