Week 3: Ample Amounts of Algae!

Monday:

Monday was a fresh start after a well-rested weekend to push us into our next topic: algae! We met our professor Sarah Henkel and our teaching assistant Miram before diving straight into the realm of greens, reds, and browns, oh my!

The section started with 2 introductory lectures before going to the lab and practicing identification. We had 17 algae and classified them by phylum, thallus, branching, holdfast, and reproduction (if we could see the difference!). We took a short lunch break before returning to learn about the history and evolution of algae through primary and secondary endosymbiosis and how these led to the formation of red algae (Rhodophytes), brown algae (Ochrophytes), and green algae (Chlorophytes). Sometimes, red alga look extremely similar to green algae, but it can always be differentiated by pouring boiling water on the algae which reveals its true color. The different colors each algae produces is specific to its phyla and the different accessory pigments located within the cells of the algae.

After this lecture, the class was divided into 9 different groups and assigned different phyla with varying characteristics. With these algae in mind, we ventured to Boiler Bay for our first algae field trip! We returned many of our beloved marine invertebrates to their rocky shore home and began learning about the different types of algae and how to identify them. We frantically took notes on the different varieties of algae and collected the majority of the genera we were assigned to find before heading back to the lab to clean-up and rest for the following days activities.


Sarah and Laura showing off the cool new algae we're learning about at Boiler Bay!


Annette teaching us how to identify algae species in the field.

Tuesday:

To start off the day, we had two lectures featuring the topics of the life history and reproduction types of algae and green algae (Chlorophyta). Since we were unable to collect a large number of green algae from our field trip to Boiler Bay Monday night, we had our lab on the brown algae (Ochrophyta) and worked on determining the species in front of us. A dichotomous key, glossary, book on algae, and algae guide were given to us. In the evening, we geared up for our field trip to Seal Rock. Luckily, the path to the site was paved saving us the scrapes and bruises going down the cliff face.  Once at the site, we learned the different rock names, such as Elephant Rock, and determined which ones were the oldest vs. youngest. Half the groups went with Annette and half with Sarah to learn about the various algae species at Seal Rock. Everyone had fun climbing on the rocks surrounding the tide pools and finding our species. It was amazing to see harbor seals and sea lions swimming in the water. Also, a few sea lions slept on a rock with the water level being around 5 feet below the top. 

A sea anemone eating market squid eggs (Doryteuthis opalescens) in a patch of Neorhodomela larix at Seal Rock.

Megan's group thought they found Gloiopeltis furcata, but it turned out to be a Fucus spp. in its diplontic reproductive stage!

Annette showing us how to identify algae at Seal Rock!

Wednesday:

Today we spent several hours in the lab learning to use dichotomous keys to identify different algae species!  Even though it was difficult at times, Miram and Sarah definitely helped steer us in the right direction.  We had to use both compound and dissecting scopes, so we were also developing those skills.  We also met with Sarah to go over our group project ideas for our treasure taxon before we collect our data on Friday.  Miram also showed us how to press algae, and we had a lot of fun arranging and pressing algae for our projects as well as pressing local flowers and leaves.  With our treasure taxon study proposal due at 9 pm, many groups met up in the library to wrap up that assignment. 

Thursday:

Thursday was the first day this week that the sun was not fully obscured by the clouds and it set a great precedent for today. We finished the last two labs for the section in the morning before attending two lectures. Lunch was two hours which allowed enough time for groups to finish any of their remaining labs and enjoy the sunshine outside. Everyone met back at the lab to review their lab demos for tomorrow’s early morning fieldtrip. Because of the 5:30 a.m. start, each group put together their materials bucket and headed home by 5:00 p.m. The rest of the night was filled with studying for the upcoming finals and the early day to come.

Friday:

Today we woke up before the sun did!  We needed to get to our study sites at Seal Rock and Boiler Bay around low tide, which just so happened to be at 7 a.m.  Factoring in travel time and having enough time to gather data for our studies, we set out from the lab to our respective areas at 5:30 a.m.  We had a lot of fun, though!  Some groups measured pH, some measured the presence of certain invertebrates, and some measured the length of their treasure taxon.  After cleaning up and getting a bite to eat, we went to lecture.  We learned about the effects algae have on the environment and the other plants and critters within it.  Different algae species will be present in different areas depending on the biotic (i.e. herbivore presence) and abiotic factors (i.e. light) present.  Did you know that some sea urchins (like Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) eat algae?  After lecture, each team presented five of the species they collected for their algae type!  Some were long and slimy, some were iridescent, and some were bright, vivid colors!  Sarah and Miram also brought in some delicious snacks, so we celebrated the work of our friends and ourselves in addition to studying for our second batch of section finals.  In the upcoming days, we studied, finished up our treasure taxon projects, and slept in!

Charlie and Haley measuring the blade length of Mazzaella parksii at Seal Rock.

Eric, Emily, and Ashley measuring the invertebrates present near Callithamnion pikeanum groups at Seal Rock.

Week 4

Monday: The week began with finishing our trawl reports and turning them in by 9:00. After that we had our final lectures and discussion for the fishes section. At 13:30 study time began and between working on lab notebooks and studying for the section final exam everyone was busily scurrying between the library and the lab.

Tuesday: In the morning there was some time for us to study before sitting down for the exam at 13:00. The general feeling in the room at 12:50 was that we were pretty well prepared yet chronically sleep-deprived. The test went well and afterward students headed to the lab for finishing touches on their lab notebooks due at 18:00

Wednesday: It was time to begin the section on marine macroalgae—after taking the morning off to catch some extra Zs, of course.  We met Allie Barner, the instructor for the section, who enthusiastically introduced us to the different phyla of marine macroalgae and presented their unique evolutionary history and plastid origins. The three phyla of algae evolved from three distinct endosymbiosis events.  The first (primary) endosymbiosis event produced the common ancestor to all eukaryotes.  The second of these events (a second primary endosymbiosis) caused this common ancestor to diverge producing the clade which contains chlorophytes (green algae), rhodophytes (red algae), and land plants. Finally, there was a secondary endosymbiosis event in which a eukaryotic cell engulfed a red algae cell forming the ochrophytes (brown algae).

After that we split into different teams, each tasked with a different set of algae, and prepared for going on a field trip the next morning.

Thursday: Most everyone seemed quite tired as we met up in the lab at 6:00 am to leave on our field trip.  We went to Boiler Bay where each team was tasked with finding a key species of algae and recording is distribution, as well as collecting samples. Upon returning to HMSC, we had a break for elevensies followed by an ID lab and some lectures.  In the lab we were introduced to both micro and macroscopic characteristics used to identify algae using a dichotomous key.  One of these lectures focused on the different life histories found in algae.  

 Identifying the red algae growing on a wall in Boiler Bay's protected intertidal zone.

There are three distinct life history strategies that are observed in algae.  Haplontic life cycles consist of a macroscopic haploid gametophyte, whereas diplontic life cycles consist of a macroscopic diploid sporophyte.  The gametophyte produces haploid gametes, and the sporophyte produces haploid spores.  Haplodiplontic life cycles alternate generations between a haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes.  Haploid stages are characterized by having a single copy of each chromosome, and diploid stages are characterized by having two copies of each chromosome.

After our lab and lectures, we learned to press algae for artistic purposes and to preserve specimens.

Friday: Once again we had to get up early in lab by 6:15.  From there we went to Tokatee Klootchman where we collected and took notes on at least two more species of algae in our group.  On this field trip we were shown examples of many of the important algae found in the intertidal.  The rest of the day consisted of one lecture followed by team meetings to design a field study.  These field studies will be conducted on Monday May 1st.

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The three phyla of algae evolved from three distinct endosymbiosis events.  The first (primary) endosymbiosis event produced the common ancestor to all eukaryotes.  The second of these events (a second primary endosymbiosis) caused this common ancestor to diverge producing the clade which contains chlorophytes (green algae), rhodophytes (red algae), and land plants. Finally, there was a secondary endosymbiosis event in which a eukaryotic cell engulfed a red algae cell forming the ochrophytes (brown algae).

The finely branched rhodophyte Ptilota, found by a student at Boiler Bay.

Feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii), an ochrophyte, found at Boiler Bay.

There are three distinct life history strategies that are observed in algae.  Haplontic life cycles consist of a macroscopic haploid gametophyte, whereas diplontic life cycles consist of a macroscopic diploid sporophyte.  The gametophyte produces haploid gametes, and the sporophyte produces haploid spores.  Haplodiplontic life cycles alternate generations between a haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes.  Haploid stages are characterized by having a single copy of each chromosome, and diploid stages are characterized by having two copies of each chromosome.

The sun sets on algae!

After two days of algae last week, we jumped into a full, and final week of algae after a very relaxing weekend. Students were frantically working to complete their species identifications on time, and we were beginning to think of the impending final that lay before us at the end of the week. Lecture and lab carried on as usually, but this week was a little different because we went on another field trip, displayed and discussed projects on algal groups, and finally had our finals on Friday to finish the section that is... Algae.

On Friday of last week, after our lecture on algal systematic, we met at the lab at 2pm for our trip to seal rock. Once each seaweed team had equipped themselves with scrappers, clipboards, Zip-lock bags and buckets of various sorts, we divided into two groups, one for each van, and were off. Twenty minutes later we had passed the local fudge shops and were wondering just what went into an “Evil Brownie”, when we arrived at our destination. We got out of the vans and made our way to the viewpoint where our instructor, Annette, pointed out the various features of the landscape. As we made our way down the slope, we noticed the spectacular waves crashing against the rocks in the distance. This caused many of our group to stop and take pictures.

Students gather as Annette describes the various species at different elevations.

While there, we noted many varieties of seaweed from the three phyla. Red, or Rhodophyta, was most prominent as we neared the tide pools. There we saw Mazzaella splendens, M. parksii, multiple coralline species, Mastocarpus species, as well as a variety of kelps and green algae.

Various Algae in a large tide pool at Seal Rock

Then on Wednesday morning we embarked on our second field trip to Boiler Bay. It was a dark and stormy morning when we met Annette at the lab at 6am for our trip to Boiler Bay. At this point in the section we had collected many samples already, so our mission this time around was to collect species we did not have or to collect specimens to replace the ones dying in our lab. The drive up was interesting. As we went farther north, we encountered heavy rain mixed with hail and began questioning the sanity of our instructor when, all of a sudden, the weather cleared up. We came to the public view point where Annette and our TA, Orissa, got out to talk strategy. We soon learned two things: 1) one of the benches was no longer available due to increased sea levels, and 2) we had not quite arrived at low tide as expected, so we couldn’t go as far out as planned.

Once down there, we split up into our groups and searched for new specimens. Every once in a while, Annette would summon us with her whistle to look at an interesting specimen or feature we couldn’t see in lab. It was nice to see our knowledge of invertebrates was still with us, as many of our number either sought out or happened across many different species. After a few hours it soon started to rain (harder), so it was time then to leave. When we got back to the lab, it was discovered that a Pacific Rock Crab, Cancer antennarius, had hitch-hiked its way back with us in Caleb’s sweatshirt pocket.

Wednesday afternoon finally rolled around and we all needed to present our projects that night at 7:00 pm, the only problem was that none of us were done! The good news is that after a brief lecture in the morning Annette let us have the rest of the day to prepare. The groups consisted of 2-3 students, and each group was responsible for a lab-like presentation of a specific group of algae. The groups were dominated by red algae, which seems to be the most common in these here parts, and the groups were as follows; green algae, small brown algae, coralline red algae, filamentous red algae, finely branched red axes, coarsely branched red axes, coarsely branched red blades, thin red blades, and finally the thick red blades... phew, that's a mouth full of algae!

Melissa, Shay, and Em showing off their Filamentous Reds

Once each group was organized and ready for a lot of research, they set about creating notecards for the species of algae that belonged to their group. The notecards were used in lab, along with fresh specimens from our previous field trips, to help explain to the other students the general information on those species, what to look for in the field and lab when identifying them, and of course similar taxa to look out for. Along with the thoroughly descriptive notecards, each group was also in charge of keying out two tricky taxa in their group that are both similar in looks and morphology, and explaining the minute differences between the two. Before 7:00pm the groups set up their stations to look like a normal lab, complete with pictures, descriptions, specimens, dissecting scopes, and even cross sections of the species in their group (we got awesome pictures seen below), and when everything was finally ready to go at 7:00, the fun filled algae fest began! Annette and Orissa provided the snacks and the students provided the entertainment, and between the excellent descriptions and first hand experience, all the students went away with a lot more than they came in with. The night provided a great experience for us all to get intimately acquainted with the diversity of of algal species along the Oregon Coast, and we all felt a little more prepared for the lab final that was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Cross section of Acrosiphonia coalita hooks at 40x magnification.

By far, week 5 was the most demanding and stressful week yet...Half the class came down with a cold, sleep was a rarity (and commonly accompanied by nightmares of algal ID sheets), and to top it off, the weather took a slight turn for the worst. However, Annette's energy, enthusiasm, and poetry helped us through the gloomy week. Of course, getting a few hours of extra sleep due to a cancelled field trip always helps too. Caleb found a small pacific rock crab that hitchhiked back to the lab in his coat pocket, we became masters of keying out algae, learned about the various life cycles, and even got an ecology lecture on how summer neap tides and limpet grazing effect algal zonation.

(Note: not a Rock Crab, this is a very red Kelp Crab)

It was a lecture on a field study that Annette herself did and it was very interesting as it showed the natural history of the area by showing us how different climates can have differing affects on the local diversity. Because the summer tides are often so calm, even the high tides don't splash essential water to the higher growing algae, and in short, they die, which sends the limpets to lower zones to find food. Yes, it was an action-packed week of algae to say the least. And congratulations to Orissa Moulton on completing her masters program, and good luck with whatever the future may hold!! We had a great time with you as a T.A., and we know everyone here at HMSC will miss you greatly.