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CRMC authorizes macroalgae research projects in Warwick
June 16, 2015, WAKEFIELD – The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) recently authorized three seaweed research projects in Greenwich Bay, Greenwich Cove and Sandy Point in Warwick.
Dr. Lindsay Green, a University of Rhode Island post-doctoral researcher, is studying the interaction between seaweed species Gracilaria (wireweed)and Ulva (sea lettuce) and their ecological effects on one another during warm weather “green tides.” Each of the three locations will have an area of 900 square feet, with buoys marking each end.
The research done by Dr. Green will help determine the impact of algal blooms (green tide) on common native seaweeds, which provide important habitat to juvenile fish and shellfish. The projects will be conducted between June and September of this year, and between May and September 2016 and 2017.
The locations for the research areas will be southwest of the Goddard Park boat ramp in Greenwich Cove, the north side of Chepiwanoxet in Greenwich Bay, and Sandy Point in Warwick. According to Dr. Green, these green tide algal blooms have harmful ecological and economic impacts by depleting oxygen and disrupting commercial and recreational fisheries.
“We are hoping to better understand why some seaweeds (especially the green blade-forming seaweed sea lettuce) are more dominant than others in blooms in Greenwich Bay and how the interact with one another,” she said.