Sargassum

Sargassum creates floating forests in the open ocean, accumulating in the Sargasso Sea where circular currents concentrate drifting mats into a unique ecosystem. Unlike kelp that anchors to rocky seafloor, sargassum floats using gas-filled bladders, creating habitat structure in the middle of the ocean where none would otherwise exist. The Sargasso Sea represents an alternative stable state - a productive ecosystem in what should be marine desert.

This floating ecosystem supports endemic species found nowhere else: sargassum fish that mimic the seaweed's fronds, sargassum crabs camouflaged to match their host, and juvenile sea turtles that hide in the mats during their 'lost years.' Eels from two continents spawn only in the Sargasso Sea. The sargassum ecosystem demonstrates that foundation species can create alternative stable states even without substrate attachment - structure and stability come from the foundation species itself.

For business, sargassum represents platforms that create ecosystems in otherwise empty market spaces. The Sargasso Sea has no bottom topography, no upwelling nutrients, no natural reason to concentrate productivity - yet sargassum creates habitat from nothing. Similarly, some business platforms create markets where none naturally existed: app stores create software distribution ecosystems, streaming platforms create content ecosystems, cryptocurrency exchanges create trading ecosystems. The platform itself becomes the substrate, floating in market space and accumulating participants.