Kelp+Forests+and+Coastal+Canyons

 =Kelp Forests =

Table of Contents
Overview of Kelp Forest Structure & Architecture Abiotic Components Autotrophs Kelp Uses Kelp Degradation Kelp Conservation  Sample Kelp Food Heterotrophs

Overview of Kelp Forest
Kelp Forests are underwater area (shallow seas) containing a high density of kelp. It is one of the most productive and and dynamic ecosystems on earth. Kelp forests can support an incredibly diverse community of marine life (about 800 known species). The term 'kelp' refers to marine algae belonging taxonomic order Laminariales. The difference between a kelp forests and a kelp bed is a floating surface canopy. Kelp forests usually contain pneumatocysts that aid the kelp in keeping upright and reaching the surface while kelp beds remain on the sea floor. The genus of kelp that dominates the California coast is Macrocystis. This species contains the largest of all the phaeophyceae or brown algae(1).

Structure/ Architecture
The holdfast is a root like structure that acts as an anchor for the thallus. It does not absorp and delivers nutrients to the rest of the thallus like terrestrial plants do. Stipe- Extends from holdfast & provides a support framework from other features. Fronds are the leaf/blade-like attachments which extend from the stipe, sometimes along itsfull length, and are the sites of nutrient uptake and photosynthetic activity. Pneumatoysts- gas-filled bladders, usually located at the base of fronds near the stipe. It provides buoyancy to maintain an upright position (2). The physical structure of a kelp ecosystem, influences differences of various species that define its community. The architecture of kelp forests is usually separated into three guilds or levels. The surface canopy consists of the floating canopy that protrude out into the ocean surface. This level includesthe largest species. Stipitate kelps are classified as being a few meters above the sea floor, having the ability to grow in dense groups. Prostate kelps generally lie near or along the ocean bottom. (e.g. Laminaria) (3). ===Abiotic Components === Hard substrate (usually rock). Requires temperature below 20ºC (68ºF). Associated with temperate and arctic regions Nutrient rich. (e.g. Nitrogen, Phosphorus). Productive kelp forests contain oceanographic upwelling, a process which deleivers cool nutrient-rich water from the depth to the ocean's mixed surface layer. Sunlight (photosynthesis). Turbidity (affects depth of light penetration). Current/Waves (water flow) helps facilitate nutrient assimilation across kelp fronds. Gas (02, C02, C0) (4). **Autotrophs ** ( //Macrocystis pyrifera / Nereocystis leutkean)- //Kelp Forests grow mostly on the Pacific Coast, ranging from Alaska to Baja California. The kelp forests in along this range are made up of giant kelp ( //Macrocystis pyrifera //) and bull kelp ( //Nereocystis leutkeana // <span style="font-size: 104.5%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">). Kelp forests grow along rocky coastline from 2m to more than 30m deep (www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov). Kelp are found in nutrient-rich waters that range in temperature from 5 degrees Celsius to around 20 degrees Celsius, and area where they would grow would be regions of upwelling for the high nutrient-rich and cool waters (5). Giant kelp grows in clear water where the light can penetrate for photosynthesis. When the water gets warmer inorganic nitrogen decreases and the kelp will experience reduced or negative growth. This is mostly found in California where kelp forests deteriorate in the summer. The kelp has a something like roots to hold it in place, it is called a hold fast to grip rocky substrates. Another thing about kelp is that it has gas bladders called pneumatocysts to keep them afloat (5).

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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jack Mackerel // <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Trachurus symmetricus) // <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sea Lions //(Zalophus californianus)// Harbor Seals //(Phoca vitulina)// California Sea Otters //(Enhydra lutris)// Wolf Eel (//Anarrhichthys ocellatus)// California Halibut //(Paralichthyus californicus)// Calico Rockfish //(Sebastes dalli)// Balck and Yellow Rockfish //(Sebastes chrysomelas)// Olive Rockfish //(Sebastes serranoides)// Bocaccio //(Sebastes paucispinis)// Black Croake //(Cheilotrema saturmum) // Swell Shark //(Cepnaioscyilium ventrios)// Cabezon //(Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)// Horn Shark //(Heterodontus francisci)// Shovelnose Guitarfish //(Phinobatos productus)// Blacksmith //(Chromis punctipinnis)// Broomtail Grouper //(Mycteroperca xenarcha) // California Sheephead //(Semicossyphus pulcher)// Sargo //(Anisotremus davidsonii)// Rock Wrasse //(Halichoeres semicinctus)// Sunflower Sea Star (//Pycnopodia helianthoides)// Vermilion rockfish //(Sebastes miniatus)// Jack Mackerel //(Trachurus symmetricus)// Leopard Shark //(Triakis semifasciata)// Rainbow Surperch //(Hypsurus caryi)// Sccorpionfish //(Scorpaena guttata)// Giant Kelpfish //(Heterostichus rostratus)// Kelp Bass (//Paralabrax clathratus)// <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yellowfin Croaker //(Umbrina roncador)//

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sample Kelp Food Chain
<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Sea Otters** //(Enhydra lutris)// are the biggest of the weasel family, 2nd smallest of the marine animals, has the thickest fur in the animal kingdom, having 250,000 hairs per square inch (11). They don’t have a layer of fat to keep warm. California sea otters grow up to be 4 feet and northern sea otters are slightly larger (11). They weigh from 45-65lbs. Northern sea otters can reach up to 100 pounds. Males live from 10-15 years old; the females can live from 15-20 years old (11). The otter’s diet is sea urchins, abalone, mussels, clams, crabs, snails and about 40 different marine species. The sea otter eats approximately 25% of its own body weigh in food each day. Sea otters use to be numbered to the millions, but now because of fur trade, their numbers plummeted to mere thousands in the 1900’s, as of 2006 there are approximately 2,750 California sea otters, but there are between 66,000 to 74,000 northern sea otters residing in Alaska, Washington, and off the coast of Canada, and 15,000 in Russia (11). Sea otters are some of the only animals who use tools, and they live in shallow what. To get food the otter can dive about 330 feet to forage for food. They rest in kelp forests, wrapping themselves in the kelp so they don’t drift away (11). Since the otter is a keystone species it keeps certain species in check, such as the sea urchin. The sea otter presence in the kelp forest is vital for the kelp to grow. If there were no sea cotters the sea urchins would over run the forest and eat all the kelp. Over time the sea urchins would reproduce and eat more until there is nothing left of the kelp making barrens. To avoid this God created otters to eat the urchins.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Purple Sea Urchins** <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(//Stronglyocentrotus purpuratus)// get their name from the Old English meaning spiny hedgehog (12). They grow to be about 4 inches in diameter with spines that are 1.5 inches long and their spiny body is called the test. They are slow moving animals that eat mostly sessile moving plants and animals. The purple sea urchin has five teeth that grow back if broken or worn down (12). They eat plankton, kelp, periwinkles, barnacles, and mussels. They are preyed upon by birds, star fish, lobsters, foxes, and sea otters. //Stronglyocentrotus purpuratus// can harmful effects to kelp forests if it didn’t have predators. If it were to be left alone, the sea urchin would eat the kelp until there was none left, causing barrens to occur.

**Kelp Uses ** <span style="font-size: 121%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Although kelp has been used over the years for food, fertilizer, and in WWI, even gunpowder, the main use for kelp during the last few decades has been the extracting of Algin. This chemical is used to thicken and mix ingredients, and it can be found in ice cream, toothpaste, lipstick, paint, paper, and many other common household items (5). Kelp is also a growing health trend, and is used to make herbal supplements, syrups, lotions, and skin creams (6). **Kelp Uses ** <span style="font-size: 121%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Although kelp has been used over the years for food, fertilizer, and in WWI, even gunpowder, the main use for kelp during the last few decades has been the extracting of Algin. This chemical is used to thicken and mix ingredients, and it can be found in ice cream, toothpaste, lipstick, paint, paper, and many other common household items (5). Kelp is also a growing health trend, and is used to make herbal supplements, syrups, lotions, and skin creams (6).
 * Kelp** such as //Macrocystis pyrifera & Nereocystis leutkean// are fast growing kelp found in the kelp forests of California. Giant kelp and bull kelp grow in cold nutrient-rich waters and found of 2 to 30 meters in depth off the shoreline. They are preyed upon by sea urchins and other herbivores. These algae are autotrophs so they get their food from the sun through a process called photosynthesis. //Macrocystis pyrifera// can grow up to 10-12inches a day, to a total growth of 175feet tall <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);">__13)__, while the //Nereocystis leutkean// can grow up to be 35 meters tall.
 * Kelp** such as //Macrocystis pyrifera & Nereocystis leutkean// are fast growing kelp found in the kelp forests of California. Giant kelp and bull kelp grow in cold nutrient-rich waters and found of 2 to 30 meters in depth off the shoreline. They are preyed upon by sea urchins and other herbivores. These algae are autotrophs so they get their food from the sun through a process called photosynthesis. //Macrocystis pyrifera// can grow up to 10-12inches a day, to a total growth of 175feet tall <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);">__13)__ <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, while the //Nereocystis leutkean// can grow up to be 35 meters tall.

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kelp Degradation **
<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kelp can be degraded by numerous natural causes: storms, urchins, plant competition, and fish grazing, but its speedy growth rate has managed to keep it above all these obstacles. Human harvesting however, has proved to be the most dangerous threat to kelp forests’ long-term survival. Kelp, and Giant Kelp in specific, is a multi-million-dollar industry, and the demand is ever increasing. In 1993 alone, more than 4,700 tons of Giant Kelp was harvested from the area around Monterey Bay (<span style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;">__5)__.

The extraction process itself seems to fairly harmless. Like a lawn mower, the kelp boat cuts the top two meters (the canopy) of the kelp, leaving the reproductive organs intact at the bottom of the plant. Thanks to its growth rate, the Giant Kelp plants usually grow back up in the manner of grass that has been cut, but scientists have yet to determine the effect of the canopy loss on the species that live in the canopy. Bull Kelp of Oregon and Washington, however, would not survive the loss of its canopy, due to the fact that its air bladders and reproductive organs exist at the top of the plant. With kelp demand increasing, and no protective legislation, Washington and Oregon’s Bull Kelp is in danger of destructive harvesting (10). Those most people remain blissfully unaware, even washing your car in the driveway can lead to kelp forest degradation. Freshwater runoff contains the waste of civilization, toxins, pesticides, herbicides, and even chemicals from innocent household cleaners that can wreak havoc on the fragile kelp beds. Even if only one species is affected, a chain reaction could begin which would lead to extinction for all (7).

Sea Otters are a good example of a kelp bed keystone species. They eat the fishes and sea urchins that graze on the kelp, keeping their populations to a minimum. As soon as these important predators are gone, the kelp beds quickly turn in to urchin barrens. Pollution such as oil spills or fresh water runoff can kill sea otters, and is probably the reason the population is in decline worldwide (<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);">__8)__. From 1995 to 2000, the population decreased from 2377 to 1700 in California alone. Although the exact reasons are still debated, most researcher believe that pollution, along with commercial fishing, are the main reasons the California Sea Otter is now on the endangered species list (Reeves).

Another species in serious decline is the Rockfish, more commonly known in restaurants as a “Red Snapper.” It is one of the longest-lived fish on Earth, sometimes living up to 100 years. Unfortunately, its tastiness is its undoing, and the population has declined 98% since 1970 ( <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__9).__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The El Nino storms of 1997 and ’98 were a glimpse of the destruction global warming could cause to kelp forests if carbon dioxide continues to fill the atmosphere. The storms of those two years uprooted and broke kelp plants, causing entire forests to be wiped out in places like Point Conception in Southern California (<span style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139);">__5)__. More worrying, however, was the high temperatures that accompanied them. Kelp forests live at a temperature between 50 and 65 degrees (F), and warmer temperatures will certainly spell extinction (7).

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kelp Conservation
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-size: 121%; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Parks and reserves are vital to kelp forest conservation, but until proper conservation laws are made and enforced, even kelp beds in marine reserves such as Monterey Bay can be harvested. Today the laws protecting the regulating kelp are "vague," widely, and loosely enforced by the Department of Fish and Game (7). Laws and regulations must be brought up to date with current scientific data and then strictly enforced to prevent canopies from being over-harvested as the demand increases. The Californian citizen can help protect our kelp forests by reducing the amount of chemicals they use in everything from cleaners to fertilizers, and making sure that these substances do not get spilled in the street or near gutters. Even some living far away from the ocean can help fight global warming by reducing their carbon footprint. Something as simple as conserving gas by carpooling, changing to an energy-efficient light bulb, or washing with a full load, all can help preserve our kelp forests for generations to come. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 1. http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/kelpforest.html. Charles Simenstad. 4/15/09 ** <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 2. <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Steneck, R.S. & M.N. Dethier. 1994. A functional group approach to the structure of algal-dom. communities. Oikos 69: 476-498 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">3. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><http://phycology.mlml.calstate.edu/PDFs/05-McClanahan-Chap05.pdf > Diversity & Dynamics ofCalifornia Subtidal kelp Forests. Michael Graham, Ben Halpern, Mark Carr. 4. Irving, A.D. and S.D. Connell. 2006. Predicting understory structure from the presence and composition of canopies: an assembly rule for marine algae. [|**Oecologia**] 148: 491-502. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__[|http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov]__. 12/27/05 . National Marine Sanctuaries.04/08/09. [ __[]__ ]. 6. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><[]> 7.  [ __[]__ ]. 8. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__[|www.marinesanctuaries.org.au]__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. 2005-12-15 10:08:05 . Marine Sanctuaries, National Parks of the Sea. 04/14/09.   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__[|www.montereybayaquarium.org]__. 04/10/09. Monterey Bay Aquarium. 04/14/09.  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [ __[]__ ] 10. Springer,Y., Hays, C., Carr, M. and Mackey, M.  “Ecology and Management of the Bull Kelp, // Nereocystis luetkeana // : A Synthesis with Recommendations for Future Research .” __Lenfest Ocean Program__. 2006. 04/14/09. Reeves, Randall, et al. __National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World.__ New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 2008. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Defenders of Wildlife__ <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2009. Defenders of Wildlife. 20, April 2009. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[] ©2009 Defenders of Wildlife (www.defenders.org) 12. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">__Secrets of the Tide Pools. 2000. April 20, 2009.__ http://library.thinkquest.org/J002608/urchin.html (www. thinkquest.org) Monterey Bay Aquarium. 1999-2008. Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. April 20, 2009. 13. ([|www.montereybayaquarium.org]) __SIMON Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network__. April 9, 2009. SIMON Staff. April 20, 2009.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References