2. Importance of Marine Plants to the Environment
Yasser A. Geneid
Researcher, Hydrology Lab
Marine Environment Division
National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries,
Suez

4. Mangrove Trees

7. Seagrasses

10. Phytoplankton

11. OCEAN FERTILIZATION
Action to deliberately increase planktonic production in the open ocean.
In the late 1980's, the late John Martin advanced the idea that carbon uptake during plankton photosynthesis in many regions of the world's surface ocean was limited not by light or the major nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, but rather by a lack of the trace metal iron.
Over the past decade, scientists have been looking at the ocean iron cycle in more detail to better understand these links. At the same time, in light of increasing greenhouse gas CO2, there has been commercial interest in fertilizing the ocean with iron as a possible mitigation strategy to reduce atmospheric CO2.
A study in 2010 reported that marine phytoplankton have declined substantially in the world's oceans over the past century. Phytoplankton concentrations in surface waters were estimated to have decreased by about 40% since 1950 alone, at a rate of around 1% per year.
The intention is to enhance microscopic marine plant growth; on a scale large enough not only to significantly increase the uptake of atmospheric carbon by the ocean, but also to remove it from the atmosphere for long enough to provide global climatic benefit.
If phytoplankton converted all the nitrate and phosphate present in the surface mixed layer across into organic carbon, the resulting carbon dioxide deficit which could be compensated by uptake from the atmosphere would amount to about ~0.8 – 1.4 GTC y-1

13. Sites of the 13 iron fertilization experiments (red), two commercial trials using iron (pink) and two phosphate addition studies (white) carried out to date, on map of satellite-based ocean primary production (yellow/green, high; dark blue, low).

14. Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB)
Harmful algal blooms are caused by species of phytoplankton some of which produce powerful chemical toxins. Fueled by periodic abundances of nutrients in the ocean, these algae multiply and multiply until they can cover tens to hundreds of miles of coastal ocean. (Photo by D. Anderson)

15. At high concentrations, toxins produced by these organisms can cause massive fish kills. (Photo by Brazosports)

16. This massive “red tide” of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca stretched for more than 20 miles along the southern California coast. Non-toxic blooms such as these can cause extensive mortalities of plants and animals in shallow waters when the bloom biomass decays, stripping oxygen from the water. (Photo by P. Franks)

17. Invasive Species (Marine Plants)
Invasive alien species are frequently introduced into marine ecosystems and may have a significant impact on biological diversity through predation, competition, mixing of exotic genes, habitat modification and the introduction of pathogens.
Vessels provide suitable transportation habitats for alien species in ballast waters, sediment in ballast tanks, sediment attached to anchors, and hull fouling.
The Mediterranean Sea has been subjected to introductions of invasive species by ship traffic since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
The Suez Canal has been the largest pathway for the entry of these species: more than 400 species – principally molluscs, fish, decapod crustaceans, polychaetes and algae have become established in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Suez Canal accounts for 38 % of all alien species into the Mediterranean.
The marine biota of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea is currently experiencing dramatic changes which result from massive invasions by exotic, mainly Indo-Pacific species.
The ratio of these species to natural flora and fauna is %, however, if the acceleration rate of the invasive species continues to increase at the same ratio, in the year of 2050 the ratio of the introduced species to native species is going to be as 50 to 50 %.

18. Invasive Seagrass Species
Halophila stipulacea a migrant seagrass species from the Red Sea was reported in the bay of Marsa Matruh in the early 1960 by Allem.
During the last three decades H. stipulacea has spread further and was reported in 1988 near Sicily and the island of Rhodes.

19. Invasive Seaweeds Species
Among the many invasions that have stressed coastal marine systems in recent years, none have had such broad-reaching biological and political impacts as the tropical green alga Caulerpa taxifolia invasions of the Mediterranean Sea, Australia, and the United States.
From its initial invasion of the northwest Mediterranean at Monaco in 1984, Caulerpa taxifolia is still spreading in the Mediterranean Sea since it was first observed a few meters from the public aquarium in Monaco, where it was used as a decorative alga and from where it was accidentally released
At the end of 2000, approximately 131 km2 of benthos were infested by 103 independent colonies of C. taxifolia along 191 km of coastline in six countries (Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Croatia, and Tunisia).

20. Caulerpa prolifera; a green alga, widespread in tropical and subtropical seas invaded the Suez Canal after the year With its potential to supplant native vegetation, it colonized its western sandy shore at shallow waters of 1-2 m depth.
The competitive success of C. prolifera seems to be related to its large size, high density, rapid growth, high efficiency in dim light conditions, high tolerance to severe nutrient limitation and salinity and temperature fluctuations and to the production of toxic secondary metabolites. The presence of these toxic secondary metabolites explains why C. prolifera is avoided by many of macro invertebrates as a habitat or feeding grounds (Gab-Alla, 2007)
According to Dr Gab-Alla’s study, C. prolifera supplant seagrass H. stipulacea which is already an invasive species from the Red Sea that is now colonizing vast area in the Mediterranean.

21. Action !
Within the Mediterranean basin, article 13 of the Barcelona Convention's Protocol on Specially Protected Areas, which was adopted in 1996, provides legislation regarding the introduction of non-native species.
In March 1998, a workshop held in Crete by UNEP, concluded that invasive species constituted a major threat to Mediterranean ecosystems and recommended that all affected countries establish a strategy to prevent dissemination and curb the invasion. Following this, several governments or regional entities affected by the invasive species, adapted their legal systems to forbid selling, buying, using and dumping of any part of an invasive species.

22. Action !
A number of eradication methods have been tested: manual removal of the plants, suction pumps, electrolysis with copper electrodes and the use of chlorine. The biological control by molluscs and nudibranchs is in an experimental phase. The introducing of some grazing tropical species in temperate waters might lead to unexpected consequences.
An efficient method has been used for the last five years in the San Diego (USA) area to treat the seaweed in situ to avoid further fragmentation and spread. Each patch of Caulerpa taxifolia was covered with a heavy plastic sheet that was sealed to the bottom at the edges and fitted with a small "port" on top that allowed for the introduction of herbicide under the sheet. while preventing the loss of herbicides to the lagoon waters. These techniques can only be applied to very local settlements of Caulerpa taxifolia

23. THANK YOU