Editing North Sea (section)

===Flora===
[[File:Phytoplankton Bloom in the North Sea.jpg|thumb|[[Phytoplankton]] bloom in the North Sea]]

Plant species in the North Sea include species of [[wrack (science)|wrack]], among them [[bladder wrack]], [[knotted wrack]], and serrated wrack. [[Algae]], macroalgal, and [[kelp]], such as oarweed and laminaria hyperboria, and species of [[maerl]] are found as well.<ref name="OSPAR"/> [[Zostera|Eelgrass]], formerly common in the entirety of the Wadden Sea, was nearly wiped out in the 20th century by a disease.<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Nienhuis
|first=P.H.
|s2cid=37221865
|title =Causes of the eelgrass wasting disease: Van der Werff's changing theories
|journal=Aquatic Ecology
|issue=1
|volume=28
|year = 2008
|doi=10.1007/BF02334245
|pages=55–61}}
</ref> Similarly, [[Seagrass|sea grass]] used to coat huge tracts of ocean floor, but have been damaged by trawling and dredging have diminished its habitat and prevented its return.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10323&page=27 |title=Effects of Trawling and Dredging on Seafloor Habitat |publisher=[[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] |others=Ocean Studies Board, Division on Earth and Life Studies, [[National Research Council (United States)|National Research Council]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-309-08340-9 |chapter=Effects of Trawling and Dredging |doi=10.17226/10323 |access-date=2 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515185007/http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10323&page=27 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Invasive [[Sargassum muticum|Japanese seaweed]] has spread along the shores of the sea clogging harbours and inlets and has become a nuisance.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Tait
|first=Ronald Victor
|author2=Frances Dipper
|title=Elements of Marine Ecology
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHrXsKJ89rEC&pg=PA432
|year=1998
|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann
|isbn=9780750620888
|page=432
|access-date=1 July 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417083626/https://books.google.com/books?id=gHrXsKJ89rEC&pg=PA432
|url-status=live
}}</ref>