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Turbinaria ornata is a tropical brown algae of the order Fucales native to coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific. It can quickly colonize these ecosystems due in part to its method of dispersing by detaching older and more buoyant fronds that travel on surface currents, sometimes in large rafts of many individual thalli, or fronds. Some scientists are investigating whether the increase in density of seaweeds, and a decrease in living coral density, on coral reef ecosystems indicates a change in the health of the reef, focusing studies on this particular species of brown alga.
