Amazon, Borneo, Congo, Daintree. We are familiar with the names of many of our most famous and largest rainforests.
We all know of the world’s largest forest area, the boreal forest that runs from Russia to Canada.
How many of us can name an underwater forest?
There are vast seaweed forests and kelp underwater that extend much further than we realize.
Few of these species have been named. Their lush canopy is home to a huge number of marine species.
The coastline of southern Africa contains the Great African SeaforestWhile Australia is home to the Great Southern ReefIts southern reaches.
Many other vast, unnamed underwater forests can be found all around the globe.
New research has revealed just how ausführlichAnd ProductiveThey are. Our research revealed that the ocean forests of the world cover an area twice as big as India.
These Seaweed forests are under threat from climate change and marine heatwaves. They may be part of the solution, thanks to their ability grow fast and sequester carbon.
What is an ocean forest?
Seaweeds are a type of algae that form underwater forests. Seaweeds, like other plants, grow by photosynthesis.
The highest species reach tens to hundreds of meters in height, creating forest canopies that dance with the currents. Swim through one to experience dappled sunlight and shadow, and a feeling of constant movement.
Like trees on land, seaweeds provide habitat, food, and shelter for many marine organisms.
Large species, such as giant kelp or sea-bamboo, have gas-filled structures which work like balloons and allow them to make huge floating canopies.
Others depend on strong stems for support and stability of their photosynthetic blades. Some species, such as the golden kelp of Australia’s Great Southern Reef drape over the seafloor.
How large are they and how fast can they grow?
Seaweeds are among the fastest-growing plants on Earth. However, it has been difficult to estimate the area that their forests cover.
Satellites can be used to measure forests on land. It is much more difficult to do this underwater. Satellites are unable to measure the depths at which underwater forests can be found.
This challenge was overcome by millions of underwater records sourced from scientific literature, online repositories, or local herbaria. Citizen science initiatives.
This information was used to calculate the global distributions of ocean forests. You will find them coveredIt covers an area of 6 to 7 million square kilometers. It is larger than the Amazon.
Next, we assessed how productive these ocean forests are – that is, how much they grow. There were again no unifying global records. We had to look at hundreds of experimental studies that were conducted by scuba divers around the globe. These studies showed how seaweed growth rates have been measured.
We Find itOcean forests are even more productive that many intensively farmed crops, such as wheat and rice.
Temperate regions were more productive because they are bathed in cool, nutritious water.
These forests produce an average of 2 to 11 times the biomass per acre than crops, and they are producing it every year.
What does our research tell us about the challenges we face?
These results are encouraging. This immense productivity could be harnessed to ensure the world’s food security in the future. Seaweed farms are a great way to supplement land-based food production. boost sustainable development.
Seaweeds also need carbon dioxide to grow at such rapid rates. They draw large amounts of carbon from the seawater and atmosphere as they grow. Globally, ocean forests could be estimated at Take up as much carbonAmazon.
This means they could be a factor in mitigating. Climate Change. Not all carbon is likely to end up being sequestered. However, seaweed carbon needs to be stored away from the atmosphere for long periods.
Initial estimates indicate that a sizeable proportionSome seaweed carbon may be retained in the sediments and deep sea. It is still unknown how much seaweed carbon is naturally sequestered. This area requires intense research.
Ocean forests face difficult times
Nearly All the heatThe 2,400 gigatonnes greenhouse gases that we have emitted thus far has been trapped in our oceans.
These conditions are causing extreme difficulties for ocean forests. Recently, large areas of ocean forests disappeared. Western Australia, Eastern CanadaAnd CaliforniaThis causes habitat loss and reduces carbon sequestration potential.
Some Arctic regions could see expansion as sea ice melts. Their ocean forests.
These forests are crucial and often unrecognized, but they play an important role far from the coasts. Unexplored, unknown and uncharted are the majority of the underwater forests in the world.
Without substantial efforts to improve our knowledge, it will not be possible to ensure their protection and conservation – let alone harness the full potential of the many opportunities they provide.
Albert Pessarrodona Silvestre, Postdoctoral Fellow in Research The University of Western Australia; Karen Filbee-DexterResearch Fellow, School of Biological Sciences The University of Western AustraliaAnd Thomas Wernberg, Professor, The University of Western Australia.
This article has been republished from The ConversationUnder a Creative Commons License Learn more Original article.
