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Kelp forests provide important habitats for many fish species, sea otters and sea urchins. Directly and indirectly, marine coastal ecosystems provide vast arrays of ecosystem services for humans, such as cycling nutrients and elements, and purifying water by filtering pollutants. They sequester carbon as a cushion against climate change.
A potential threat that may arise is loss of habitat due to climate change and its resulting consequences such as ocean acidification and pollution, as well as destruction and/or massive die-offs of kelp forests. This poses a threat because this species depends on dense canopies of kelp for protection from predators and for reproduction.
Seaweed farming is a carbon negative crop, with a high potential for climate change mitigation. [8] [9] The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate recommends "further research attention" as a mitigation tactic. [10] World Wildlife Fund, Oceans 2050, and The Nature Conservancy publicly support expanded seaweed ...
Major issues of concern include marine pollution and water quality, kelp harvesting and fisheries, invasive species, [8] and climate change. [75] The most pressing threat to kelp forest preservation may be the overfishing of coastal ecosystems, which by removing higher trophic levels facilitates their shift to depauperate urchin barrens. [ 9 ]
Many animals feed on kelp and kelp provides sheltered habitats for yet others. Sea grass is the only type of flowering plant that grows in British seas, but it nonetheless forms vast beds. Invertebrates in coastal Britain are very diverse and include brittle stars , hermit crabs , mussels , prawns , sponges , sea anemones and sea squirts .
Researchers are also helping the animals build starter dams, also known as beaver dam analogs, to ensure the process works. "It's amazing all the steps that we have to do to help out something ...
Seagrasses store more than twice as much carbon from planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) per square mile than forests do on land, according to a 2012 study. The plants also help support fisheries ...
The Arctic food web is complex. The loss of sea ice can ultimately affect the entire food web, from algae and plankton to fish to mammals. The impact of climate change on a particular species can ripple through a food web and affect a wide range of other organisms... Not only is the decline of sea ice impairing polar bear populations by ...