Ecological Significance
M. membranacea has become an invasive species in many places, and is believed to have a potentially negative impact on marine ecosystems by limiting the ability of the seaweeds to reproduce, specifically by interfering with spore release from the kelp blade. The colonies of this bryozoan are also known to interrupt nutrient uptake by seaweed.
M. membranacea also decreases density and size of kelp plants within kelp beds by increasing tissue loss and blade breakage. Additionally, M. membranacea also affects photosynthetic processes in kelp, since their encrustations may result in reduced concentrations of the primary and accessory pigments in the kelp blade tissue.
Read more about this topic: Membranipora Membranacea
Famous quotes containing the words ecological and/or significance:
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the world’s total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)