THE destructive purple sea urchins responsible for a 90 per cent reduction of the kelp in Port Phillip Bay\u2019s marine sanctuaries are being removed as part of a trial cull led by ecologists at Deakin University.\u00a0Deakin researchers are working with the University of Melbourne, Parks Victoria divers and volunteer citizen scientists to carry out the work, aimed at re-establishing kelp canopies in the bay.<\/p>\n
Dr Paul Carnell, an associate research Fellow in Deakin\u2019s School of Life and Environmental Sciences and leader of the urchin culling project, said purple sea urchin numbers in Port Phillip had started causing some significant problems over the past decade, destroying critical kelp forests.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased upon data us and others had collected, in 2016 the Victorian Government\u2019s State of the Bays report identified that the overabundance of purple sea urchins in northern Port Phillip Bay was a significant issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that a decline in nutrient inputs into the bay during the millennium drought lead to less kelp and other seaweeds for the sea urchins to eat. Effectively, they got hungry and started eating almost all of the remaining kelp and seaweeds from these reefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said kelp provided an important marine habitat and therefore made a better environment for fishing, snorkelling and diving.\u00a0\u201cA loss of kelp forests results in a loss of species that rely on kelp for food and shelter. By restoring kelp cover we can return habitat essential to the juvenile and adult stages of many of Port Phillip Bay\u2019s marine animals, including economically important species such as abalone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntact native kelp beds also provide resistance against the invasive Japanese seaweed in the bay.\u201d\u00a0University of Melbourne research fellow Dr Rebecca Morris said the project aimed to establish how much people power, time and money was needed to make a significant difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, it takes 10 urchins to eat all the kelp in a square metre, but you only need two or three to stop that area of kelp from coming back.\u00a0\u201cWe have seen a shift in the balance of the reefs in the bay, and some areas seem unable to recover on their own, so they\u2019ll need a little help from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said urchin numbers would need to be kept low for at least two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE destructive purple sea urchins responsible for a 90 per cent reduction of the kelp in Port Phillip Bay\u2019s marine sanctuaries are being removed as part of a trial cull led by ecologists at Deakin University.\u00a0Deakin researchers are working with the University of Melbourne, Parks Victoria divers and volunteer citizen scientists to carry out the […]<\/p>\n