Restoration Objective:
At Hope Island, preliminary short term trial clearings of urchin from barrens resulted in little recovery of macroalgal vegetation. It was postulated that limpets may be an additional herbivore controlling vegetation so this experiment was conducted to determine if urchins were the principal herbivore at Hope Island.
Site Selection Criteria:
Sites were selected that were urchin barrens, but had previously had kelp beds.
Cause Of Decline:
Overgrazing by sea urchins is thought to have led to the decline of Macrocystis populations in Tasmania.
