Macroalgae are members of the large group of aquatic plants know as algae (singular alga'). The algae (the primary producers of the planet) are primitive photosynthetic plants that include the single celled phytoplankton of the multi-celled macroalgae, or seaweeds, that can range in size from microscopic to the huge bull kelps (Durvillaea) and giant kelps (Macrocystis). Macroalgae should not be confused with seagrasses. With few exceptions, macroalgae are strictly benthic plants; that is they are always attached to the seabed or a solid substratum such as natural reef, rocks, shells, mangrove roots, boat hulls, jetty piling mooring lines etc. Macroalgae also can be major contributors to reef degradation via ecological 'phase-shifts' whereby the dominant taxa on the reef shifts from hard, reef-building corals to fleshy macroalgae. The phase shift is usually initiated by a disturbance like coral bleaching, outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), coral disease or storm damage. In a healthy system, corals would be ready to slowly recover and recolonise the disturbed area. Scholarly peer review is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field, before a paper describing this work is published in a journal. The work may be accepted, considered acceptable with revisions, or rejected. Peer review requires a community of experts in a given (narrowly defined) field, who are qualified and able to perform reasonably impartial review