Discovery of the world's largest underwater plant on the coast of Australia
Scientists have discovered that a huge underwater garden just off the coast of Australia is actually a single plant that covers hundreds of kilometers.
Scientists have come to the conclusion through genetic testing that it is not a combination of different plants but a single plant.
Scientists believe that it spread from a single seed at least four and a half thousand years ago.
According to scientists at University of Western Australia this seaweed covers an area of about 200 square kilometers.
The team made the discovery by accident. In fact they wanted to do a genetic test of plant located 800 km north of Perth in Shark Bay.
This seagrass is also called ribbon weed & is found on the shores of Australia.
Researchers collected several twigs from the bay & analyzed 18,000 genetic markers to create a fingerprint of each sample.
They wanted to know how many plants there were in the garden.
A bird eye view of a plant in Shark Bay
Lead author of the study Jean Agello said: The answer surprised us, there was only one plant.
There is only one plant in Shark Bay that stretches for 180 kilometers so it has become the largest plant on earth.
Also read
 | |||
The Hard Knot Pass: Britain's most dangerous road at which even a mistake at a bend can be fatal
|
Used to go round and round
The plant is also surprisingly hardy and thrives in many different places throughout the Gulf even in very different conditions.
Mr Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair, one of the researchers, said: This is a seemingly extremely flexible plant that withstands a wide range of temperatures & salty surfaces as well as extremely bright light all of which are unfavorable to most plants as a whole. Limits can be stressful.
This plant grows up to 35 cm in a year like a garden and scientists have estimated that it took four and a half thousand years to reach its present size.
The study is published in the research journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
0 Comments