Contreras Porcia, LorettoOyarzo Miranda, Carolina VerónicaFacultad de Ciencias de la VidaEscuela de Biociencias2021-06-162021-06-162018http://repositorio.unab.cl/xmlui/handle/ria/19129Tesis (Biólogo Marino)Population of Lessonia spicata are important community structures of the low intertidal coastals of central-south of Chile. L. spicata is sensitive to high concentrations of copper where have been described cell damaged, growth reduction and decrease on spore’s release. Because of its life cycle and ecological importance, this species was selected to determine the effects of seawater and sediments from Cachagua, Horcon y Ventanas- coastal sites near of the industrial park of Quintero (V Region)- on population structure by means of morphological characters and development. The population descriptors were cover and morphological features, and development was registered to sporophyte formation. The results show significative differences between populations from the different sites at morphological level, with Ventanas with small plants. Also it was found high concentrations of copper and arsenic in all the samples sites suggesting that the pollution levels has expanded since 2000 in the bays of Valparaiso Region. In the case of in vitro experiments, differences in the development of gametophytes and sporophytes were observed, where in both cases Ventanas takes more time to develop a similar percentage of the same stage respect to Cachagua. It would be interesting to assess if there are molecular or new mechanism of tolerance to pollution stressors in these populations, and if that also allows them to reproduce effectively on sites constantly exposed to anthropogenic pollution.enContaminación MarinaTesis