Abstract
1. Fucoid forests are areas dominated by marine brown seaweed in the
taxonomic order Fucales that, like the better-known marine foundation
species - corals, kelps, seagrasses, salt marshes, and mangroves - are
threatened by anthropogenic stressors. 2. Fucoid forests are fabulous
and important because they, like the better-known marine foundation
species (i) span large areas, bioregions, and ecosystems, (ii) provide
ecological functions such as high productivity and biodiversity, and
(iii) support a variety of ecosystem services including habitat for
commercial fishery species, food for humans and cultural values. 3.
Fucoid forests are, based on a new citation analysis, forgotten
worldwide, because they are described orders of magnitude less than the
better-known marine foundation species, in ecology and marine biology
textbooks, in Google Scholar and Scopus databases over scientific
literature, and in recent reports and reviews about seaweed forests. 4.
Fucoid forests would be less forgotten if more people acknowledge their
biological importance and societal value more often and equate their
importance to that of the better-known marine foundation species.
Perhaps name-recognition would also improve if fucoids are unified under
a non-taxonomic common name across teaching, research, management, and
conservation, like the better-known marine foundation species. We agree
with the marine scientists that have used ‘rockweed’ as such a common
name to describe all fucoids, but other seaweed-experts disagree because
they (a) do not agree fucoids are forgotten, (b) dislike common names or
(c) argue rockweed should only describe fucoid species in the family
Fucaceae.