The Yellow Sea green tides were dominated by one species, Ulva (Enteromorpha) prolifera, from 2007 to 2011

Green tides have occurred in the Yellow Sea successively from 2007 to 2011. Genetic analysis of the 5-year green-tide-forming algae needs to be performed to determine the source of the biomass and understand the mechanism of the green tide blooms. In this study, free-floating green algae were collected at different sites in the Yellow Sea in 2010 and 2011. Data on 182 free-floating samples and 155 attached Ulva samples from previous studies on the Yellow Sea green tides from 2007 to 2009 were also taken into consideration. Morphology observation and molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that the Yellow Sea green tides were dominated by a single species, Ulva prolifera, from 2007 to 2011. Considering that at least five Ulva species inhabit the north coast of China, the unialgal composition of the green tides implied that (1) there may be some special physiology and propagation pathways of U. prolifera for its rapid expansion, (2) the mechanisms of the Yellow Sea green tide formation were similar for the last five years, and (3) the intra-species genetic variation and population structure of U. prolifera need to be studied to determine the exact origin of the bloom-forming biomass.