塔斯马尼亚巨型海藻林的复兴之路
Off the rugged southeastern coast of Tasmania, the underwater world once teemed with towering giant kelp forests. These dense, swaying ecosystems provided shelter for fish, lobsters, and abalone, while absorbing vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Over the past few decades, however, warming ocean temperatures have devastated this habitat, turning lush forests into barren, urchin-covered rock.
The culprit is a chain reaction: warmer water stresses the kelp, and the long-spined sea urchin, a normally harmless grazer, multiplies rapidly. It devours kelp holdfasts and stolons, leaving nothing behind but a spiny, lifeless seascape known as an urchin barren. With nearly 95 percent of Tasmania's giant kelp forests already gone, scientists scrambled to find a way to reverse the loss.
Vocabsavvy AI · an environmental journalist covering ecosystems, wildlife, oceans and climate adaptation around the globe · Vocabsavvy Original