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This "kelp highway hypothesis" suggested that highly productive kelp forests supported rich and diverse marine food webs in nearshore waters, including many types of fish, shellfish, birds, marine mammals, and seaweeds that were similar from Japan to California, Erlandson and his colleagues also argued that coastal kelp forests reduced wave ...
Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Although algal kelp forest combined with coral reefs only cover 0.1% of Earth's total surface, they account for 0.9% of global primary productivity . [ 3 ]
Macrocystis is a monospecific genus [3] of kelp (large brown algae) with all species now synonymous with Macrocystis pyrifera. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or brown algae. Macrocystis has pneumatocysts at the base of its blades.
Frequently considered an ecosystem engineer, kelp provides a physical substrate and habitat for kelp forest communities. [50] In algae (Kingdom: Protista), the body of an individual organism is known as a thallus rather than as a plant (Kingdom: Plantae). The morphological structure of a kelp thallus is defined by three basic structural units: [49]
The shortage of spawn led to seeking new harvesting grounds in areas where giant kelp do not naturally grow, and demand and harvest developed for eggs on alternate seaweeds, such as Desmarestia sp. or "hair seaweed". [e] [59] Amidst the 1968 shortage, commercial collection of spawn of Fucus began, [f] in Bristol Bay, east of Togiak. [60]
[3] [4] In Australia, E. radiata forms the backbone of the Great Southern Reef, a system of interconnected kelp reefs that spans the coastline of southern Australia, underpinning biodiverse and productive ecosystems, and supporting valuable ecosystem services. [5] Ecklonia radiata grows in kelp beds on reefs and where sheltered can form dense ...
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Laminariaceae is a family of brown algal seaweeds, many genera of which are popularly called "kelp". The table indicates the genera within this family. [ 1 ] The family includes the largest known seaweeds: Nereocystis and Macrocystis .