Journal article
From little things, big things grow: using applied nucleation to restore marine forests
npj Ocean Sustainability, Vol.Advanced access
14-May-2026
Abstract
Global habitat degradation has prompted an urgent need for efficient restoration strategies at appropriate spatial scales. “Applied nucleation” is a restoration technique used in terrestrial forests, which starts with planting small vegetation patches that set the trajectory for natural propagation and recovery, resulting in large-scale restoration outcomes that require fewer resources. This concept could provide a framework for the restoration of marine seaweed forests, which are declining at unprecedented scales. We used the loss and 13-year restoration efforts of crayweed (Phyllospora comosa) forests along 70 km of Sydney’s coastline, Australia, to determine the feasibility and challenges of applied nucleation in marine forests. After transplanting events at 14 sites, 43% of transplanted sites led to the establishment and expansion of crayweed, covering ~19,000 m2 along Sydney’s coastline. Recruitment 9 months post-transplantation was negatively associated with grazing and positively related to survival of transplanted adults—a source of propagules and canopy cover in the short-term. In the longer term, crayweed expansion was positively associated with other canopy-forming seaweed species, suggesting canopy provision as an important factor influencing recovery. Small-scale efforts, such as applied nucleation, that consider factors influencing seaweed establishment and expansion can help re-establish marine forests at relevant scales.
Details
- Title
- From little things, big things grow: using applied nucleation to restore marine forests
- Authors
- Catalina A. Musrri (Corresponding Author) - The University of SydneyGeorgina Wood - Flinders UniversityAdriana Vergés - UNSW SydneyAlexandra H. Campbell - University of the Sunshine CoastMelinda A. Coleman - New South Wales Department of Primary IndustriesSebastian Vadillo Gonzalez - The University of SydneyPeter D. Steinberg - UNSW SydneyEzequiel M. Marzinelli - The University of Sydney
- Publication details
- npj Ocean Sustainability, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- DOI
- 10.1038/s44183-026-00201-5
- ISSN
- 2731-426X
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
- Grants
- Grant note
- NSW government Recreation Fishing Trust and Environmental Trust grants, the Lim-Sutton Initiative and various philanthropic funds to Operation Crayweed. Marine Studies Institute (MSI) Ruhm Award in Marine Ecology.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991231430202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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