Vishnupriya Sowjanya I. and P. S. Raja Sekhar
A comparative study on present status of marine macro algal flora in relation to their occurrence, distribution and diversity was carried out at along the Visakhapatnam coast intertidal shores areas of Bay of Bengal, East coast of India over a period of five decades with reference to climate change. A total of 48 seaweeds species were recorded, of which 18 species (37%) belong to Chlorophyta, 9 species (19%) belong to Phaeophyta and 21 species (44%) belong to Rhodophyta. A total of 10 macroalgae species were newly recorded, while, 41 species were found to be absent during the present study when compared to 1964 data obtained from this coast. In the present study, the impacts of Hudhud, severe tropical cyclone on intertidal macro algae was observed. Cyclone development in East coast of India was observed in the months of September – November, when prominent growth of macroalgae was recorded. Climate change not only increases the impact of environmental stressors but also intensify their frequency of occurrence
