http://www.bbc.

com/news/science-environment-34320399
'Underwater Christmas trees' help restore key habitat

By Mark KinverEnvironment reporter, BBC News

24 December 2015
From the sectionScience & Environment

Image copyrightJohn TurnbullImage captionThe

crayweed (Phyllospora comosa) plays a central role

in the marine ecosystem on the shallow reefs around

Sydney
Australian researchers are encouraging people
to buy "underwater Christmas trees" to help
restore seaweed that suddenly disappeared in
the 1980s.
Poor water quality was blamed for the loss of
crayweed from 43 miles (70km) of coastline around
Sydney.
But as the water quality has improved, scientists are
now replanting the seaweed that provides a vital
habitat and food for marine life.
Scientists expect the replanted seaweed to
recolonise the shallow, rocky reefs.
"These forests of seaweed are very important, not
only because they provide important habitats and
food for many little creatures, some of which are
commercially very important, they can also
sequester a significant amount of carbon," explained
project leader Ezequiel Marzinelli, a senior research
associate at the University of New South Wales.

Image copyrightJohn TurnbullImage

captionResearchers use metal mesh to attach the
crayweed to the reefs
He added that the species Phyllospora

comosa was abundant in the area's temperate

waters but then disappeared suddenly in the early
1980s.

"At that time, the sewage was not very well treated
and it was pumped right onto the coast and the
water quality was really bad," said Dr Marzinelli.
"However, in the early '90s the sewage treatment
improved and the water quality improved
significantly."
Plentiful sex

He explained that research suggested that the

seaweed's offspring did not like poor water quality
so there was a strong correlation between the poor
water quality at that time and the disappearance of
these vast underwater forests.

Image copyrightJohn TurnbullImage captionThe

project is helping to restore life to areas that had lost
its crayweed and the species that depended on the
seaweed
As the seaweed had disappeared, it was necessary
to reintroduce it as part of a restoration project.
"We did a number of small-scale experiments in
some places where we planted a number of adult

plants, both male and female," Dr Marzinelli told BBC

News.
"Not only did they survive but they also reproduced
very well - they basically had a lot of sex. We found
a lot of babies colonised the area immediately
around the plants we had transplanted.
"After about two or three years, those babies
became adults themselves and started reproducing."
He said the underwater forests that began with the
replanting of the plants now stretch a couple
hundred of metres away from the original replanting
location.
The results of the project to date have been very
encouraging, he added, and the return of the
crayweed has seen a return of animals that form an
important link in the ecosystem's food chain.

Image copyrightJohn TurnbullImage captionThe

"forest" supports many species, including the
threebar porcupine fish...

Image copyrightJohn TurnbullImage caption...and

the sweet ceratosoma
"It is still a little too early to see the establishment of
lobster populations but the smaller animals that
provide food for them have returned," Dr Marzinelli
said.
The waters along the Sydney coastline are very
popular with people who live in the area and use the

waters for recreation, such as divers, fishermen and

surfers.
"People care about their beaches and the water
environment, however most people do not realise
that seaweed are important," Dr Marzinelli observed.
In order to expand and accelerate the replanting
project, his team has set up acrowdfunding

website to raise money as well as awareness of

their work.
He suggested: "People can go onto the website and
buy an underwater Christmas tree, either for
themselves or for family and friends."