{"id":81539,"date":"2024-12-03T14:18:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T14:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/vast-seagrass-meadow-off-australian-coast-eclipses-aspen-forest-as-worlds-largest-organism"},"modified":"2024-12-03T14:56:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T14:56:50","slug":"vast-seagrass-meadow-off-australian-coast-eclipses-aspen-forest-as-worlds-largest-organism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/vast-seagrass-meadow-off-australian-coast-eclipses-aspen-forest-as-worlds-largest-organism","title":{"rendered":"Vast Seagrass Meadow Off Australian Coast Eclipses Aspen Forest as World\u2019s Largest Organism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>A new study by Australian scientists has found that a huge expanse of seagrass off the continent\u2019s western coast is actually a single organism that\u2019s spread across the seafloor for more than 4,500 years.<\/p>\n

When scientists set out to study the seagrass Posidonia australis, also known as fibre-ball weed or ribbon weed, in Western Australia\u2019s Shark Bay, they made a bizarre discovery: samples taken more than 100 miles apart had identical DNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought \u2018what the hell is going on here?\u2019\u201d Martin Breed, an ecologist at Flinders University in Adelaide, told The Guardian. \u201cWe were completely stumped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ribbon weed grows from a seed \u2013 in this case, a bizarre hybrid of two different species \u2013 and expands via underground rhizomes, which sprout new plants while remaining connected to the others. Similar behavior is seen in Indian goosegrass, the bane of many Western lawns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe existing 200 square kilometers of ribbon weed meadows appear to have expanded from a single, colonizing seedling,\u201d Jane Edgeloe, a student researcher at the University of Western Australia, told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Its unique DNA, having been retained from both parent plants, probably helped it adapt as it spread across waters of different temperatures and salinities. In their samples, the researchers found subtle variations in its DNA, indicating that it also adapted as it spread, too.<\/p>\n

Their research was published on Wednesday in the science journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.<\/p>\n

The meadow spreads across 77 square miles, or roughly three times the size of Manhattan Island. In order to grow so large, the scientists estimate it must have sprouted at least 4,500 years ago, or about the same time the ancient Egyptians were building the Great Pyramid at Giza.<\/p>\n

Prior to this discovery, the largest single organism was believed to be a grove of Aspen trees in Utah known as \u201cPando.\u201d The tree similarly spreads via underground rhizomes, allowing Pando to cover some 43 hectares, or about 0.16 square miles. However, while the Shark Bay ribbon weed meadow is far larger, the Pando grove is far older, having persisted for at least 80,000 years, meaning it will retain the title of world\u2019s oldest organism.<\/p>\n\r\n