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In Alaskan kelp forest ecosystems, sea otters are the keystone species that mediates this trophic cascade. In Southern California, kelp forests persist without sea otters and the control of herbivorous urchins is instead mediated by a suite of predators including lobsters and large fishes, such as the California sheephead.
Kelp grows in "underwater forests" (kelp forests) in shallow oceans. Kelps were previously thought to have appeared in the Miocene , 5 to 23 million years ago based on fossils from California. [ 5 ] New fossils of kelp holdfasts from early Oligocene rocks in Washington State show that kelps were present in the northeastern Pacific Ocean by at ...
The Giant kelp marine forests of south east Australia is a community extending from the ocean floor to the ocean surface, on a rocky substrate, and has a ‘forest-like’ structure with many organisms occupying its various layers, including pelagic and demersal fishes, sea birds, turtles and marine mammals in addition to the invertebrate ...
“Kelp forms whole forests that are supporting so many other species and so it just has this cascading effect on the near-shore ecosystem when you lose your kelp,” Elsmore said. “You’re ...
Harvesting of kelp as a food source and other uses may be the least concerning aspect to its depletion. In the Northwest Pacific kelp forests in waters near large population centres may be most affected by the sewer/stormwater discharge. [51] The natural phenomenon known as El Niño cycles warm, tropical water from the South Pacific to Northern ...
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.
Kelp forests are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems and in the UK cover an area similar in size to the country’s woodlands.
Kelp forests are also some of the world's largest carbon sinks, and the Great Southern Reef therefore acts as a buffer against climate change. [7] Unfortunately, an estimated 95% of the giant kelp forests off the coast of Tasmania have died off over the past few decades due higher water temperatures and the long-spined sea urchin. [6] [8]