The underwater jungles of the sea give clearer water

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The new study, that has been conducted in 32 archipelago bays along the Baltic Sea coast shows that underwater plants can contribute to a better water quality, thus improving their own living environment. The water becomes clearer when the plants take up nutrients and in that way out-compete phytoplankton.

Dense plant communities such as seaweeds and pondweeds also slow down the water movement and cause sediment particles to sink to the bottom, which also makes the water clearer, says the PhD candidate Ã…sa Nilsson Austin.