Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Enric Sala, Gustavo Paredes, Abraham Mendoza, and Enric Ballesteros. 2007. Predictability of reef fish recruitment in a highly variable nursery habitat. Ecology 88:2220–2228.

Appendix D. A general methodology used for Sargassum biomass estimation.

The biomass of Sargassum patches was quantified using 0.25 m² (50 × 50 cm) quadrats ( Muñeton 1987; Hernandez-Carmona et al. 1990; Casas-Valdez and Sanchez-Rodriguez, 1992; Casas-Valdez et al. 1993; Nuñez and Casas-Valdez 1997; Pacheco-Ruiz et al. 1998). Divers put the quadrants on the bottom and all the Sargassum fronds within were scraped from the bottom using knifes. An average of 15 samples were taken in each Sargassum patch. After this procedure each patch was measured using meter tapes of 50, 100, and 200 m long according with the size of the patches: small patches = 350 m; intermediate patches = 350 – 1400 m; and big patches > 1400 m. In addition, some authors used satellite devices (GPS) to determine the length of each bed (Nuñez and Casas-Valdez 1997; Pacheco-Ruiz et al. 1998).

LITERATURE CITED

Casas-Valdez, M. M., and I. Sanchez-Rodriguez. 1992. Biomasa cosechable de Sargassum spp. CICIMAR-IPN, Boletin No. 9.

Casas- Valdez, M. M., I. Sanchez - Rodriguez, and G. Hernandez-Carmona. 1993. Evaluaci ón de Sargassum spp en la costa oeste de Bahía Concepción, B.C.S., México. Investigaciones Marinas CICIMAR 8:61–69.

Hernandez-Carmona, G., M. M. Casas-Valdez, C. Fajardo-Leon, I. Sanchez-Rodriguez, and E. Rodriguez-Montesinos. 1990. Evaluación de Sargassum spp. en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S., México. Investigaciones Marinas CICIMAR 5:11–18.

Muñeton, M. 1987. Fenología de Sargassum horridium (Setchel y Gardner) en tres localidades de La Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, B.C.S., México.

Nuñez-Lopez, R. A., and M. M. Casas-Valdez. 1997. Variación estacional de la biomasa y talla de Sargassum spp. (Sargassaceae, Phaeophyta) en Bahía Concepción, B.C.S., México. Hidrobiológica 7:19–25.

Pacheco-Ruiz, I., J. A. Zertuche-Gonzalez, A. Chee-Barragán, and R. Blanco-Betancourt. 1998. Distribution and quantification of Sargassum beds along the West Coast of the Gulf of California, Mexico. Botanica Marina 41:203–208.