Temporal and spatial variation in the macrophyte distribution in coastal lagoon Lake Nakaumi and its neighboring waters

During the period May–December 1996, macrophyte distribution and its abundance were investigated for 24 sites in coastal lagoon Lake Nakaumi and its neighboring waters, southwestern Honshu, Japan. More than 21 taxa, including two aquatic angiosperms, were found and the taxa with high frequency of occurrence were Enteromorpha spp. and Sargassum thunbergii. Ruppia maritima, one of the endangered aquatic macrophytes in Japan, was also found making dense meadows in Honjou, an area planned to be reclaimed. Four distinct distributional regions were recognized in the lake by principal component analysis (PCA) using the seasonal maximum cover of each species, and a significant relation was found between PCA axis 1 and electric conductivity. A long-term change in floristic composition is also discussed based on the present results and literature.