Provision of ecosystem services
Wild and cultured seaweeds play a significant role in provision of ecosystem services, such as habitat for other marine organisms, mitigation of climate change, localized control of ocean acidification and bioremediation for coastal pollution (3, 22).Also, Seaweeds as an autotroph species, produce energy and food for itself due to the presence of the chlorophyll(50) and provides food for other marine animal especially for herbivore that only eat herb such as other marine plant, algae and seagrass (36, 50). Habitat such as mangrove, coral reef, and other marine habitat are given by seaweed (51, 52). Brown algae can make a forest in the ocean. Like as forest, seaweed provide all what other marine species need. Food, nutrient, energy, and others (53, 54). On the other hand, seaweed as sensitive organism that can be used as bioindicators of marine chemical pollution. As a practice disposal of untreated or partially treated wastewater from household, aquacultural, industrial and others enters the ocean (55, 56) carrying materials such as nutrient. Disturbance to nutrient balance in the ocean cause population leading to increased growth of seaweed, the phenomenon known as algae bloom which is the bioindicator of marine chemical damage (57, 58). Therefore, all species of seaweeds available in WIO can further be utilized to protects the ecosystem. Hence, it is important to increase scale of seaweed farming in the Western Indian Ocean to provide for ecosystem balance and protect marine biodiversity. Figure 2summarizes the benefits of seaweeds in marine ecosystem which can be adopted in Western Indian Ocean for greener ecosystem.