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Practical ecological knowledge for the temperate reader. |
Family: Laminariaceae [Wiki]
"Rising to 100 feet (30 meters) or more from a root-like holdfast attached to the ocean floor; the leaf-like parts with a central strand to which are attached small flotation bulbs and long, broad, toothed leaf-like blades." [Lincoff TJF]
"Macrocystis is a monospecific genus, the sole species is M. pyrifera. Some individuals are so huge that the thallus may grow to up to 60 m (200 ft).[4]" [Wiki] "One species, the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), can regularly attain lengths of 60 meters and form enormous ‘kelp forests’ in the ocean." [Mouritsen Seaweeds]
"One of the largest of these brown algae is Macrocystis (Fig. 1.8) which may grow up to 150 ft (45· 7 m) long. It appears to have a life of about five years, though individual fronds have only an average age of six months or so (North, 1961), which means that the growth rate is very high; the average rate of elongation of frond apices has been measured at 7·1 cm ± 4·3 cm per day (Sargent and Lantrip, 1952). At a depth of 60 ft. (I8·3m) whole fronds can grow as much as 45 cm per day, and at this rate they represent the most rapid plant growth known. By means of bladders, which are gas-filled and located at the base of the laminae, the fronds are kept floating at the surface of the sea. In view of their great size these seaweeds can have their rooting portion down at depths of 10-15 fathoms (15.25-27.4m), though they achieve their best growth in depths of about 5 fathoms (l4.6m)." [Chapman SU]
"Another tasty species of very large brown algae is the perennial giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera, also known as Macrocystis integrifolia) which consists of a very long stipe, to which a series of wide blades are attached by small, pear-shaped, air-filled bladders. The blades are broad and narrow towards the top, with a sawtooth edge and a characteristic wrinkled pattern of waves and bulges. This pattern helps to create turbulence in the water that flows around them, thereby replenishing the supply of fresh nutrients available to the organisms. Dried giant kelp looks like a piece of crepe paper but, amazingly, the original pattern reappears perfectly when the blade is soaked in water." [Mouritsen Seaweeds]
"M. pyrifera grows in water along the south coast of Argentina and it is frequently deposited on the beach of Bahía de Camarones causing unpleasant odors and a negative impact on local tourism and can be considered an easily available natural waste." [Alvarez BLA]
"...one of the fastest-growing organisms on Earth, commonly growing to 30 m, and in ideal conditions can grow over 50 cm per day in one season and reach over 50 or 60 m and 100 Kg in mass. Like most kelp species, M. pyrifera is perennial, and has a lifespan of five to eight years. This species will often die back to its holdfast each winter, as much as three quarters of an individual can be lost during the winter season." [Periera ESW]
"The effect of warm water on the rate of decay of Macrocystis is striking, and if the temperature of the water rises much above 20°C whole beds may disappear entirely. Several beds did, in fact, disappear completely as a result of this in the warm summer of 1917 and again later. Destruction appears to be caused by bacterial action at these higher temperatures (see p. 273). In other places the kelp beds exist near sites where wastes are discharged into the sea. Historical records shows that two beds have deteriorated since 1945 because of the local discharge. In addition to the wastes, turbidity in such areas can also be a significant factor as well as sea urchin grazing." [Chapman SU]
Habitat/Range: "The sub-Antarctic islands are characterized by Macrocystis, Lessonia, and ephemeral populations of Desmarestia." [Lobban SEP] "The giant Macrocystis grows along the shores of eastern and southern Australia and Tasmania where it is now being harvested as a source of alginates." [SATU,Chapman] "The giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera grows in the waters around New Zealand in sufficient quantity to be of economic value, and the major beds have been mapped (Rapson et al., 1943)." [SATU,Chapman] "Beds of Macrocystis are widely distributed down the coast from Peru to the Straits of Magellan." [SATU,Chapman] "Macrocystis grows best where there is a continuous swell". [Chapman SU] "On rocks in subtidal zone, to a depth of about 8 m; usually in large beds in areas close to open ocean, but not in heavy surf, in North Temperate Zone of Pacific coastal waters; found in both Northern and Southern hemispheres." [Turner, Kuhnlein] "The Pacific coast of both North and South America is dominated by Macrocystis, whereas Laminaria is dominant in Atlantic waters and in Japan." [Venugopal MPS]
Hazards
“Health hazards not known with proper therapeutic dosages” (PH2) (but PH2 designates no specific quantified dosage! JAD). Not for use in thyropathic-prone families; more than 300 μg/day may cause hyperthyroidism. If the alga contains 0.3% (between the 0.1 and 0.5% cited by PH2), then a gram of wet alga (assuming 90% water) would give you that flagged dangerous dose (300 μg/day)." [HMH Duke]
"Water extracts of certain algae, e.g. Macrocystis, Gelidium cartilagineum, Pelvetia fastigiata and Egregia laevigata, are toxic to mice (Habekost, Fraser and Halstead, 1955). There is no evidence, however, that consumption of alginate products at normal use age levels (see p. 216) presents any toxicological problems (McNeely and Kovacs, 1975)." [Chapman SU]
Food Use
"In this country the Maoris used to employ certain of the green seaweeds said to be very palatable in salads and soups. They still make use of the red seaweed Porphyra (see p. 98). It is recorded that seaweed meal made from Macrocystis, together with milk from a seaweed-eating cow, produced a very striking speed-up in the development of a four year old child who, at the beginning of the treatment, was not able to sit up and talk." [Chapman SU]
"USES: dried and pulverized for use as a salt substitute; scissored and used in soups and stews." [Lincoff TJF]
"The large, textured fronds are often used by herring as a spawning surface in the spring months. Once the spawn has accumulated, usually after about two days of spawning, it can be harvested at low tide from canoes. Several Northwest Coast groups, including Haida, Coast Tsimshian, and Kwakwaka'wakw, have used giant kelp for gathering herring spawn, and the practice continues to the present. The fronds are usually eaten together with the spawn. For later use they were sun-dried, or in recent times, preserved by salting or freezing, together with the spawn. Sometimes, for drying, the spawn-coated fronds are cut into thin strips; others are dried as whole fronds. The dried product can be reconstituted by soaking in water overnight, or nibbled dry as a casual snack. Haida children, for example, will sometimes take a pocketful of dried herring eggs on kelp to school as a recess snack. The usual method of preparing the fronds is to steam them briefly in a frying pan or fry them in fat until crisp and lightly browned. They are often served with eulachon oil. The Kwakwaka'wakw served reconstituted giant kelp with herring eggs, broken into bite-size pieces and boiled in cedarwood boxes, at feasts, to be eaten from dishes, with special spoons. Giant kelp was apparently not eaten alone, but only with herring eggs on it." [Turner, Kuhnlein]
Medicinal Use
"Indications (Brown Kelp) — High Blood Pressure (f; PH2); Obesity (f; PH2)." [HMH Duke]
"The methanol extracts of the red alga Palmaria palmata and three kelp (Laminaria setchellii, Macrocystis integrifolia, and Nereocystis luetkeana) display antiproliferative effects on the HeLa human cervical adenocarcinoma cell line. The antiproliferative efficacy of these algal extracts was positively correlated with the total polyphenol contents suggesting a causal link related to extract content of phlorotannins (Yuan and Walsh, 2006)." [Fleurence SHDP]
"Brown algae thallus serves chiefly as a source of iodine. The drug has also been demonstrated to have an influence on the immune system, as well as antiviral qualities. In a study with 400 women, the daily intake of 5.5 g of macrocystis powder over a period of 6 to 8 weeks led to an elevation of hemoglobin levels of 86% over normal values. Although licensed as a substance to aid weight loss, no adequate experimental data are available to support that effect." [PDR]
"It is recorded that seaweed meal made from Macrocystis, together with milk from a seaweed-eating cow, produced a very striking speed-up in the development of a four year old child who, at the beginning of the treatment, was not able to sit up and talk." [SATU,Chapman]
"Unproven Uses: Folk medicine uses include weight reduction. The drug is used as a commercial pharmaceutical preparation in the U.S. for anemia in pregnancy. In Japan the drug is used for hypertension." [PDR]
"No health hazards are known in conjunction with the proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages." [PDR]
"Brown Kelp should not be used by individuals with a familial disposition to thyroid illness or hyperthyroidism." [PDR]
"Long-term administration of daily dosages that exceed 150 micrograms iodine carry with them the danger of worsening an existing hyperthyroidism. Quantities over 300 micrograms iodine per day can precipitate hyperthyroidism." [PDR]
"Mode of Administration: Brown Kelp preparations are available for internal use. Storage: Store in tightly sealed container." [PDR]
Chemical Composition
Macrocystis pyrifera [Qin BSFA]
Components/Contents
| Water | 10%–11% | Copper | 0.003% |
| Ash | 33%–35% | Chromium | 0.0003% |
| Protein | 5%–6% | Manganese | 0.0001% |
| Cellulose | 6%–7% | Silver | 0.0001% |
| Fat Alginic acid and other carbohydrates Potassium |
1%–1.2% 39.8%–45% 9.5% |
Vanadium | 0.0001% |
| Sodium | 5.5% | Lead | 0.0001% |
| Calcium | 2.0% | Chlorine | 11% |
| Strontium | 0.7% | Sulfur | 1.0% |
| Magnesium | 0.7% | Nitrogen | 0.9% |
| Iron | 0.08% | Phosphorus | 0.29% |
| Aluminum | 0.025% | Iodine | 0.13% |
| Lithium | 0.01% | Boron | 0.008% |
| Rubidium | 0.001% | Bromine | 0.0002% |
[Turner, Kuhnlein]
[Turner, Kuhnlein]
[HMA]
[HMA]
[HMA]
[SATU,Chapman]
[SATU,Chapman]
"Rubidium. This element is widely distributed in plants. Some groups of algae are concentrators of rubidium, the concentration in some Macrocystis plants being as high as 130 mg per kg dry matter; in the brown algae rubidium concentrations are 19 - 120 mg per kg ash." [Shkolnik TEP]
Monosaccharide Compositions of Fucoidan
Macrocystis pyrifera - Fucose, galactose, sulfate (Black et al. (1953) [Qin BSFA]
Alginate Production
"A major source of algin in the United States is Macrocystis pyrifera (L.) C. A. Agardh. or “giant kelp” that grows along the West Coast of North America." [Leung ECNI]
"The giant Macrocystis grows along the shores of eastern and southern Australia and Tasmania where it is now being harvested as a source of alginates." [Chapman SU]
"The rather inadequate data for Macrocystis from Hoagland (I 916), presented in Table 6.6, show that plants from the south contain considerably more algin than those from farther north. This result is probably related to higher metabolic activity in the warmer southern waters. It is comparable to a somewhat similar phenomenon mentioned previously (p. 22) for iodine, potash and nitrogen." [Chapman SU]
"Also in the southern hemisphere a factory was established in Tasmania, using Macrocystis, in 1964 (Pownall, 1964) but it has since closed. More recently a new company, Kelp Industries Pty, has been formed, but this is purely for the collection and export of dried Macrocystis to Alginate Industries of Great Britain. Export commenced in 1975 and there has been a steady increase since then". [Chapman SU]
"Most of the extractions performed by scientists then were in mild acidic conditions with temperature variations, and subsequently ethanol precipitation. It is interesting to note that Hoagland and Lieb (1915) (Table 3.2) used sodium carbonate to pretreat the seaweed, Macrocystis pyrifera, prior to extraction using hydrochloric acid, and the extract was found to be mainly alginic acid and some fucose-sulfate. This is consistent to what was discussed previously (section “Brown Seaweeds and its Polysaccharides”), where alginate is water soluble in sodium form, that is, the sodium carbonate converts the alginate in the M. pyrifera into sodium alginate. The HCl used for the extraction then converts the sodium alginate into alginic acid, which was then extracted." [Kim SP]
"Alginate is a linear polysaccharide polymer of b-d-mannuronic acid and a-lguluronic acid. The commercially available alginates are derived primarily from brown seaweed, which include: Laminaria hyperborea, Ascophyllum nodosum, and Macrocystis pyrifera (Goh et al., 2012). An extraction method for alginate is outlined in Figure 9.4. First, acid treatment is used to convert the alginate salts to insoluble alginic acid and to remove external salts and residual formaldehyde. The seaweeds are then stirred for 15 min at room temperature, and the residual solution is then drained. After this, extraction is carried out with water in excess ratio (depending on the species and desired viscosity) at a temperature of 80°C and pH of 10 (maintained by adding sodium carbonate). Following extraction, water is added to reduce viscosity at 75°C and to facilitate the filtration process. The product of filtration, that is, clarified alginate solution, is added simultaneously at synchronized speed with 10% calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution. Recovered calcium alginate is treated with acid at pH 1.8–2.0 to obtain alginate (Hernández- Carmona et al., 2013)." [Tiwari SS]
"Alginate is a polysaccharide widely present in the cell walls of brown seaweed. This compound is extracted fromdifferent types of brown seaweed such as Ecklonia, Macrocystis, Undaria, Laminaria, Durvillea, Turbinaria, and Sargassum (Kaliaperumal, 2003)." [HMA]
[Venugopal MPS]
"Dental alginate impression materials contain a blend of several ingredients to impart desirable properties during its use in clinical conditions. Alginic acid is a colloidal polysaccharide extracted from cell walls of various species of brown seaweed (Phaeophyceae). Although alginic acid can be extracted from any seaweed, the chemical structure of alginic acid varies from one genus to other. Several brown seaweeds, such as Laminaria, Ascophyllum, Durvillaea, Ecklonia, Lessonia, Macrocystis and Sargassum can be used as a source of raw alginate (Black and Woodward, 1954)." [Kim SP]
"In the studies without considering the effects of UVR, diurnal photosynthesis of macroalgae was depressed in the afternoon on sunny days in Macrocystis pyrifera surface canopy (Gerard, 1986)" [Israel SRGCE]
"Metschnikowia zobellii is a dominant yeast on surfaces of decomposing macroalgae from the kelp Macrocystis pyrife (Van Uden and Branco 1963)." [Raghukumar FCME]
"Macrocystis pyrifera is also harvested along the Mexican coast. Starting with 10000 tons (10160 tonnes) wet weight in 1956 the annual harvest in 1974 was 37000 tons (37 580 tonnes) and it is probably still increasing." [Chapman SU]
"In the U.S., the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera is used (Figure 7.13); it is harvested from large offshore beds off the coasts of California and Mexico. Around 50,000 tons wet weight are gathered each year using ships equipped with cutting machinery. Macrocystis has the distinction of being the largest macroalgae in the world; the largest attached plant recorded was 65 m long and the plants are capable of growing at up to 50 cm day". [Barsanti Algae]
"The concept of the kelp farm (Wilcox and Leese, 1976) has been developed to ensure adequate supplies of algae that can be harvested economically. At the present time attention is centred around the large Pacific kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, (Fig. 1.8), which grows in extensive beds that are regularly harvested off the Pacific USA. The algal genus also occurs off the coasts of South Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Experimental work in California (North, 1974) has shown that plants can be cultured and nets innoculated with sporelings, or larger plants can be readily transferred to nets. However, Macrocystis is not the only large brown alga that can or could be harvested mechanically." [Chapman SU]
"In the case of Macrocystis, which has been unsuccessfully exploited in Tasmania for algin production, experiments have shown that it can be grown successfully outside its present distribution area in the West Indies (La Croix) and in the English Channel. In the case of France the plants were removed before maturity and reproduction because of opposition to its introduction. The use of any of the large algae for farming immediately raised the problem of a potential 'weed' species that could change an existing ecosystem. For this reason it will be wisest to restrict kelp farms to ocean areas where the alga grows naturally." [Chapman SU]
"Initial experiments using Macrocystis on nets attached near the shore resulted in problems with ocean currents, wave action and shipping. However, they did demonstrate the value of locating farms in areas where there was natural upwelling of nutrients or in areas where upwelling could be generated artificially. Jackson (1977) showed that low nutrients in surface waters provide the primary limiting factor. At St. Croix the test plants grown in upwelling water grew better than comparable plants in California". [Chapman SU]
"The advantage of Macrocystis and other large brown algae is that they are immune to frost or drought and in the case of Macrocystis individual frond life is 6 months so that 2-3 crops per year are feasible. It is estimated that a 100000 acre (40469 ha) farm would produce 15-45 x 109 ft3 (42·48-126·62 x 107 m3 ) methane per year at a cost of S 3-9 per 1000." [Chapman SU]
"...while the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera develops large canopies above its neighbors and thus outcompetes them for light, its large size and high growth rate make it more susceptible to disturbance from large waves and low nutrients than many of its neighbors (Dayton and Tegner 1984)." [ECOStud-219]
"For example, Edwards and Herna´ndez-Carmona (2005) found that along the coast of Baja California Sur, MEX, the dominant Macrocystis pyrifera canopies typically reduce the abundance of the understory Eisenia arborea canopies. However, all the Macrocystis pyrifera canopies were lost during the 1997–1998 ENSO, resulting in a dramatic increase in Eisenia arborea canopies that were able to prevent Macrocystis pyrifera recovery at its southern range limit for up to 20 years." [ECOStud-219]
"Specimens of Macrocystis off the coast of Southern Australia growby asmuch as 1m(39in.) aday, probably the fastest growth rate in the plant kingdom, although possibly approached amongst land plants by some bamboos". [GPOD]
"Risk assessment procedures have resulted in some proposals for introduction of commercially valuable species to be declined. For example, plans to introduce the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera into Europe in the 1950s and 1970s were dropped because of public protests and a recommendation from ICES (Boalch 1981). It is possible that this species could otherwise have colonized the European Atlantic coast from Spain to Norway, with unpredictable consequences." [Johnson, SI]
"great damage to Macrocystis can be done by urchins, which eat little of the plant but cause the loss of entire fronds by chewing through the bases of the stipes." [Lobban SEP]
"The ecological significance of translocation is that it allows more rapid growth of localized meristems. This is especially important in plants like Macrocystis, which may be attached in deep water, where the new frond initials are shaded by both the water column and the surface canopy of blades. In populations of M. pyrifera growing in stratified water where the surface layer is poor in nutrients, translocation may also serve to carry nitrogen (as amino acids) to the surface canopy (Wheeler & North 1981)." [Lobban SEP]
"The concept of the kelp farm (Wilcox and Leese, 1976) has been developed to ensure adequate supplies of algae that can be harvested economically. At the present time attention is centred around the large Pacific kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, (Fig. 1.8), which grows in extensive beds that are regularly harvested off the Pacific USA. The algal genus also occurs off the coasts of South Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Experimental work in California (North, 1974) has shown that plants can be cultured and nets innoculated with sporelings, or larger plants can be readily transferred to nets. However, Macrocystis is not the only large brown alga that can or could be harvested mechanically." [SATU,Chapman]
"Initial experiments using Macrocystis on nets attached near the shore resulted in problems with ocean currents, wave action and shipping. However, they did demonstrate the value of locating farms in areas where there was natural upwelling of nutrients or in areas where upwelling could be generated artificially. Jackson (1977) showed that low nutrients in surface waters provide the primary limiting factor. At St. Croix the test plants grown in upwelling water grew better than comparable plants in California". [SATU,Chapman]
Harvesting
"Giant kelp can be gathered by knife by cutting the surface blades off the main stalk, or just gathering loose floating pieces; then drying the seaweed before using it" [Lincoff TJF] "Macrocystis is regarded as a particularly valuable plant because when the fronds are cut and removed new stipes arise from the base whilst the severed ones die away. Actually, the rate at which regeneration in Macrocystis takes place is largely dependent upon the temperature, and there is only one region where even two crops a year would be economically possible". [SATU,Chapman]
Biomass
"Some macroalgal species like Macrocystis pylifera and genera such as Sargassum, Laminaria, Ascophyllum, Ulva, Cladophora, Chaetomorpha, and Gracilaria have been explored as potential methane sources (Filipkowska et al. 2008)." [Demirbas AE]
"Giant kelp (Macrocystis spp.) yields, for instance, have been compared to those of sugar cane (Mann, 1973; Lapointe et al., 1976; Feng et al., 2004; Harger and Neushul, 2009). Biomass increases of 20% per day (Guist et al., 1982), as well as yields of 50 t/ha/year dry weight (Lapointe et al., 1976) and 1750 g C/m2/year (Mann, 1973), were already reported 40 years ago. More recently, rates of 39.7 g dry weight/m2/d have been sustained in intensive tank culture during a period of 4 years (Capo et al., 1999) and yields in excess of 600 t/ha/year fresh weight have been documented (Neori et al., 2004)." [Tiwari SS]
"Seaweeds like Laminaria, Gracilaria, and Sargassum are the biomass that is converted to methane by anaerobic fermentation and it was found that Macrocystis produced more gas (methane) than could be burnt to produce energy (Indergaard, 1983)." [HMA]
"Macrocystis (Giant kelp) is grown for fuel production. The kelp yields are represented to be of the tune of 90 tons/ha/year. In USA, California expects an area of 40,000 ha of ocean energy farms by the turn of the century. Each hectare of cultivated kelp would yield about 10 million kilo calories of oil and about a 100 kilo calories of methane energy per year." [Lichtfouse SAR 17]
"The large brown algae are readily convertible to methanol which, in turn, can be economically converted to gasoline, Huge kelp farms are necessary to ensure the necessary regular bulk production of raw material for commercial processing, The development of such kelp farms for Macrocystis pyrifera and Pelagophycus porra, syn. Pelagophora porra in Pacific USA, Durvillea antarctica in Australia, New Zealand and South America, Ecklonia maxima, syn, E. buccinalis in South Africa, and Laminaria japonica off Priomorye, Russian Federation, testify to the interest now being shown in this source of bioenergy." [Wickens, EB]
Feed
"In recent times, seaweed protein has been extracted and used as fish feed. In Australia, the brown seaweed Macrocystis pyrifera and the red seaweed Gracilaria edulis have been used as abalone feed (McHugh, 2003)." [Tiwari SS]
"Shrimp can be fed with Macrocystis pyrifera, Ascophyllum nodosum or Sargassum sp. The presence of seaweed in fodder gives it some advantageous properties: integrity, water-holding capacity, texture, water stability, and lower leaching of nutrients, which results in higher feed intake and better growth performance (Cruz-Suarez et al., 2009; Immanuel et al., 2010)." [HMA]
Fertilizer
"As a result of these developments the production of fertilizers and potash salts from seaweeds was commenced on a commercial scale in 1912. The three kelps which occur in sufficient economic quantity are Macrocystis..." [SATU,Chapman]
"Brown algae is been used as green manure. Easy availability, low cost, nutritional quality, rich micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, B, Mn, Co and Mo), macronutrients (Ca, K and P), vitamins, growth hormones (auxins, betaines, cytokinins and gibberellins) and chelating property make brown seaweeds an excellent soil conditioner. Species of various seaweeds such as Ascophyllum , Dictyopteris , Durvillaea, Fucus , Laminaria , Macrocystis , Padina and Sargassum (Kumar and Sahoo 2011 ) are being used as a biofertilizer in many coastal countries...." [Sahoo TAW]
"In the southern hemisphere, coast dwellers in New Zealand have made use of algae as manure. Macrocystis pyrifera, Lessonia variegata and Ecklonia radiata are the bottom weed species that have been used, whilst Carpophyllum, Cystophora (Blossevillea) and Sargassum are the principal low-water forms. The cost of driftweed removal in New Zealand is, however, expensive. The principal objection to a more extensive use of seaweed as a manure in New Zealand, and indeed anywhere, is that it is heavy bulky material (it contains 90% water), and, unless dried, it must therefore be utilized near its source. It is, therefore, only profitable to establish an industry in places where large quantities are likely to be continually available. ... Grimmet and Elliott (I 940) prepared a dry manure from New Zealand Macrocystis which contained 17% of potash and 2% of nitrogenous material. The bull kelp, Durvillea, which is also abundant in these waters, would not be a satisfactory alga for manurial purposes since it only contains about 1.75 % potash and 0.7% nitrogen (Aston, 1916). Field experiments carried out in New Zealand have shown that plots fertilized with dried Macrocystis yield crops only slightly inferior to plots treated with an equivalent amount of artificial manure containing 30% of potash salts." [Chapman SU]
"Little (I 948) studied the rate of decomposition of certain large New Zealand brown seaweeds when dug into the soil. Macrocystis, Ecklonia and Durvillea decompose completely within four months, but Carpophyllum is still recognizable after one year. The bulk of the sodium, potassium and chlorine is released in the first fourteen days, so that these elements are made available very rapidly. It is likely therefore that the minor elements will be made available equally rapidly." [Chapman SU]
"In British Columbia mineral and nitrogen content in Macrocystis and Nereocystis is also maximal in December, January and March (Wort, 1955)." [Chapman SU]
"In the case of Macrocystis the availability of the nitrogen decreases on drying, so that it is desirable to use this alga when wet." [Chapman SU]
"Rapson et al. (1942) reported on attempts to use dried and ground Macrocystis as a manure but nothing eventuated. Grimmet and Elliott (1940) prepared a dry manure from New Zealand Macrocystis which contained 17% of potash and 2% of nitrogenous material.... Field experiments carried out in New Zealand have shown that plots fertilized with dried Macrocystis yield crops only slightly inferior to plots treated with an equivalent amount of artificial manure containing 30% of potash salts." [SATU,Chapman]
"In British Columbia mineral and nitrogen content in Macrocystis and Nereocystis is also maximal in December, January and March (Wort, 1955)." [SATU,Chapman]
"The amount of potentially available nitrogen in the giant kelps is 1-2%, but it is only liberated slowly into the soil. The availability of the nitrogen appears to depend upon the type or condition of the weed.... In the case of Macrocystis the availability of the nitrogen decreases on drying, so that it is desirable to use this alga when wet. It has been estimated that the organic matter of these three seaweeds is sooner or later converted to valuable humus and that it increases the humic content of the soil to an extent comparable with a crop of alfalfa or stable manure and straw." [SATU,Chapman]
Remediation
"Algae are among the most promising biosorbents; due to presence of alginate in their cell wall, brown algae are probably the best. Recently we have published the results of metal biosorption using nonviable biomasses from two brown algae, Macrocystis pyrifera and Undaria pinnatifida (Plaza Cazón et al. 2011, 2012a, b, 2013)." [Alvarez BLA]
Use of Other Related Sp.
"Macrocystis angustifolia has been cultivated on an experimental scale in South Africa with a view to eventually growing it for alginate production or abalone feed." [Qin BSFA]
MACROCYSTIS INTEGRIFOLIA "This plant was used to catch herring spawn. The broad blades were weighted and placed under the water at rivermouths. After the herring had spawned on them, the blades were dried in the sun, bundled up in groups of ten, and stored in boxes for winter. Before use, they were soaked overnight, broken into bite-sized pieces, and boiled for a long time. They were put into dishes, and oulachen grease was poured over them. They were eaten at feasts with a special type of spoon (Boas, 1921; Cranmer, 1969). Sometimes the spawn was scraped off the leaves and then dried and salted for winter (Cranmer, 1969). The Haida Indians on the Queen Charlotte Islands used Macrocystis for the same purpose (Turner, 1971)." [Turner&Bell2]