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Killer Weed

Known as caulerpa taxifolia, it is the plant predator of the Mediterranean Sea, especially at Cote d’Azur on the French coast. It is the fastest-growing seaweed in the world and covers the sea bed like a thick blanket. It multiplies more quickly than any other weed and smothers all plant life that happens to grow nearby. It has a cousin in the tropical seas, a weed that grows in small clumps. Caulerpa develops to six times its size!
Ecologists are worried because the killer weed is choking off food that sustains fish and sea birds, forcing many species to leave their home grounds and forage elsewhere.
In France, the navy sent scuba divers to manually destroy the weed but found that it grew back faster and stronger. However, there is some hope.

Scientists have bred a species of snail that devours the tropical variety and will soon unleash it on caulerpa.

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Last updated on :8/11/2004

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User's Comments

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salvador rosillo: The snail can only live during a few months in summer, so, they are not the solution... meantime Caulerpa grows and grows, it should be called a true modern plant, since it is a clone from a single plant and shares identical DNA, maybe a prelude of things to come down from the cloning techniques and NANO technologies........ a brave new world..

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