Crustose coralline algae exhibit complex responses to breakage under current and future climate scenarios.

Rising pressures from local and global stressors on marine benthic habitats require understanding of their effects on habitat forming species like Crustose Coralline Algae (CCA), which play a crucial role in ecosystem diversity and structure. Here, the impact of mechanical damage and warming on the CCA species Lithophyllum stictiforme was investigated in the Mediterranean Sea using a manipulative field transplant experiment that takes advantage of temperature variations between depths of 35 m and 15 m as proxies for current and future climate scenarios. A significant effect of mechanical damage and warming on the growth angle of the thalli was detected, while no interactive effects on the other biological traits were observed.

Structural integrity and skeletal trace elements in intertidal coralline algae across the Northeast Atlantic reveal a distinct separation of the leading and the trailing edge populations.

Intertidal macroalgae, such as coralline algae, represent an essential structural element and substrate in rocky coastal zones. They have a high degree of flexibility allowing their survival in environments with severe mechanical stress during tidal cycles. This study characterised the genicula and intergenicula of the calcifying red algae Corallina officinalis across its geographic distribution in the Northeast Atlantic.