Common bladder wrack

Common brown alga of the coastal areas of the North and Baltic Sea

Common bladder wrack (rockweed, or brown alga) is one of the macrophytic alga which have long been used in monitoring programmes as indicators of accumulation. As one of the most widespread algae in the northern hemisphere, it lends itself particularly well to the comparative analysis of coastal water pollution.

The forked thallus is used as a specimen. Sampling takes place every two months.

For more information about the specimen, the sampling and the processing of samples see the Richtlinie zur Probenahme und Probenbearbeitung Blasentang (Fucus vesiculosus) (German)

Recommended analysis examples

• Barium levels in bladder wrack from the North- and Baltic Seas
• Sulfur in bladder wrack from the Sylt-Römö-Watt

Sampling area

Analytes

• Metals

  Eighty percent of all elements on earth are metals

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• Nonmetals

  Only eighteen elements in the periodic table

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• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds

  Organic compounds which are fully (per-) or partially (poly-) fluorinated

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• Polycyclic musks

  Class of synthetic fragrances

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• Stable Isotopes

  Atoms of one element with different weights

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• Supplementary parameters

  Additional information for the interpretation of contamination data

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Sampling period

Extended information

Links to external information and legislation

• EUNIS biodiversity database - Fucus vesiculosus
• MarLIN - Bladder wrack - Fucus vesiculosus

Literature

• Morphologische und genetische Untersuchungen an den Probenarten Miesmuschel (Mytilus edulis) und Blasentang (Fucus vesiculosus) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Hybridisierungseffekten
  Quack, Markus; Kosuch, Joachim
  Trier: Universität Trier, Fachbereich VI – Biogeographie, 2005. - 170, 2005