<
https://theconversation.com/heat-is-destroying-australias-underwater-forests-seaweed-biobanks-could-help-save-them-283490>
"Australia’s Great Southern Reef is built not by coral but by seaweed. The
seaweed forests on these rocky reefs stretch more than 8,000 kilometres around
southern Australia.
Amid the swaying fronds live seadragons, rock lobsters, giant cuttlefish and
southern blue devils. The reef is home to more than 1,500 seaweed species and
contributes billions to the economy each year.
But these remarkable cold water forests face a worsening threat. The ocean is
getting steadily warmer, pushing seaweed species outside their survival zone.
Much of this damage is done by sudden marine heatwaves, where temperatures
spike and remain high for some time. Heatwaves have driven the decline of
seaweed forests across the country.
To protect these underwater forests, we need to preserve their genetic
diversity. We led the first attempt to cryopreserve (freezing and storing
reproductive material at ultra-low temperatures) a key Australian seaweed,
crayweed, and found the idea shows promise, though the techniques need to be
perfected."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
