Editing Kelp forest (section)

{{Short description|Underwater areas highly dense with kelp}}
[[File:Kelp forest.jpg|Kelp forest|thumb]]
{{Ocean habitat topics}}
'''Kelp forests''' are underwater areas with a high density of [[kelp]], which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called '''kelp beds'''. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic [[ecosystem]]s on Earth.<ref name="Mann (1973)">{{Cite journal |last=Mann |first=K. H. |date=1973-12-07 |title=Seaweeds: Their Productivity and Strategy for Growth: The role of large marine algae in coastal productivity is far more important than has been suspected. |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.182.4116.975 |journal=Science |volume=182 |issue=4116 |pages=975–981 |doi=10.1126/science.182.4116.975 |pmid=17833778 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pessarrodona |first1=A|last2=Assis|first2=J|last3=Filbee-Dexter|first3=K|last4=Burrows|first4=M T|last5=Gattuso|first5=J-P|last6=Duarte|first6=C.M.|last7=Krause-Jensen|first7=D|last8=Moore|first8=P.J.|last9=Smale|first9=D.A.|last10=Wernberg |first10=T|date=23 July 2020 |title=Global Seaweed Productivity |journal=Science Advances|volume=8|issue=37 |page=eabn2465|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abn2465 |pmid=36103524|pmc=9473579|hdl=10754/681467|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Although algal kelp forest combined with [[coral reef]]s only cover 0.1% of Earth's total surface, they account for 0.9% of global [[Primary production|primary productivity]].<ref>See Fig. 3 in {{Cite journal |doi=10.3390/soilsystems2040064|doi-access=free|title=Non-Flat Earth Recalibrated for Terrain and Topsoil|year=2018|last1=Blakemore|first1=Robert|journal=Soil Systems|volume=2|issue=4|page=64}}</ref> Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout [[temperate]] and [[polar region|polar]] coastal oceans.<ref name="Mann (1973)" /> In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in [[tropical]] waters near [[Ecuador]].<ref name="Graham et al. 2007">{{Cite journal |last1=Graham |first1=Michael H. |last2=Kinlan |first2=Brian P. |last3=Druehl |first3=Louis D. |last4=Garske |first4=Lauren E. |last5=Banks |first5=Stuart |date=2007-10-16 |title=Deep-water kelp refugia as potential hotspots of tropical marine diversity and productivity |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=104 |issue=42 |pages=16576–16580 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0704778104 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2034254 |pmid=17913882|bibcode=2007PNAS..10416576G }}</ref>

[[File:Kelp forest distribution map.png|thumb|244px|{{center|Global distribution of kelp forests}}]]

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 |quote = "I can only compare these great aquatic forests ... with the terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe so nearly so many species of animals would perish as would here, from the destruction of kelp. Amidst the leaves of this plant numerous species of fish live, which nowhere else could find food or shelter; with their destruction the many cormorants and other fishing birds, the otters, seals and porpoise, would soon perish also; and lastly, the Fuegian[s] ... would ... decrease in numbers and perhaps cease to exist.
 |source = – [[Charles Darwin]], 1 June 1834, Tierra del Fuego, Chile<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/harvardclassicsv0029unse |title=the harvard classics: voyage of the beagle |date=1909 |publisher=P.F. Collier & Son Company}}</ref>
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[[File:Kelp forest Cojo Anchorage.PNG|thumb|350px|A kelp forest at Cojo Anchorage near [[Point Conception]], [[California]].]]
Physically formed by brown [[macroalgae]], kelp forests provide a unique habitat for marine organisms<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Christie |first1=Hartvig |last2=Jørgensen |first2=Nina Mari |last3=Norderhaug |first3=Kjell Magnus |last4=Waage-Nielsen |first4=Elisabeth |date=August 2003 |title=Species distribution and habitat exploitation of fauna associated with kelp ( Laminaria Hyperborea ) along the Norwegian Coast |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0025315403007653/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=687–699 |doi=10.1017/S0025315403007653h |bibcode=2003JMBUK..83..687C |issn=0025-3154 |access-date=2024-10-05 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007151310/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-marine-biological-association-of-the-united-kingdom/article/abs/species-distribution-and-habitat-exploitation-of-fauna-associated-with-kelp-laminaria-hyperborea-along-the-norwegian-coast/16ECBF25C1F4CCD89680498809A09F95 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and are a source for understanding many ecological processes. Over the last century, they have been the focus of extensive research, particularly in [[Trophic dynamics|trophic]] ecology, and continue to provoke important ideas that are relevant beyond this unique ecosystem. For example, kelp forests can influence coastal [[Oceanography|oceanographic]] patterns<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=George A. |last2=Winant |first2=Clinton D. |date=May 1983 |title=Effect of a kelp forest on coastal currents |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0278434383900237 |journal=Continental Shelf Research |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=75–80 |doi=10.1016/0278-4343(83)90023-7 |bibcode=1983CSR.....2...75J |access-date=2024-10-05 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007151306/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0278434383900237 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and provide many [[ecosystem services]].<ref name="Steneck 2002">{{Cite journal |last1=Steneck |first1=Robert S. |last2=Graham |first2=Michael H. |last3=Bourque |first3=Bruce J. |last4=Corbett |first4=Debbie |last5=Erlandson |first5=Jon M. |last6=Estes |first6=James A. |last7=Tegner |first7=Mia J. |date=December 2002 |title=Kelp forest ecosystems: biodiversity, stability, resilience and future |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0376892902000322/type/journal_article |journal=Environmental Conservation |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=436–459 |doi=10.1017/S0376892902000322 |bibcode=2002EnvCo..29..436S |issn=0376-8929 |access-date=2024-10-05 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007145525/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/environmental-conservation/article/abs/kelp-forest-ecosystems-biodiversity-stability-resilience-and-future/105EB05670376912F180E116D64135D6 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

However, the influence of humans has often contributed to kelp [[forest degradation]]. Of particular concern are the effects of [[overfishing]] nearshore ecosystems, which can release [[herbivore]]s from their normal population regulation and result in the [[overgrazing]] of kelp and other algae.<ref name="Sala1998">{{Cite journal |last1=Sala |first1=E. |last2=Boudouresque |first2=C. F. |last3=Harmelin-Vivien |first3=M. |date=September 1998 |title=Fishing, Trophic Cascades, and the Structure of Algal Assemblages: Evaluation of an Old but Untested Paradigm |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3546364 |journal=Oikos |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=425 |doi=10.2307/3546364|jstor=3546364 |bibcode=1998Oikos..82..425S |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This can rapidly result in transitions to [[Urchin barren|barren landscapes]] where relatively few species persist.<ref name="Dayton 1985a">{{Cite journal |last=Dayton |first=Paul K. |date=1985 |title=Ecology of Kelp Communities |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2097048 |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=215–245 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.16.110185.001243 |jstor=2097048 |bibcode=1985AnRES..16..215D |issn=0066-4162|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Norderhaug |first1=Kjell Magnus |last2=Christie |first2=Hartvig C. |date=November 2009 |title=Sea urchin grazing and kelp re-vegetation in the NE Atlantic |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17451000902932985 |journal=Marine Biology Research |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=515–528 |doi=10.1080/17451000902932985 |bibcode=2009MBioR...5..515N |issn=1745-1000|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Already due to the combined effects of [[overfishing]] and [[climate change]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Filbee-Dexter |first1=Karen |last2=Feehan |first2=Colette J. |last3=Scheibling |first3=Robert E. |date=2016-02-03 |title=Large-scale degradation of a kelp ecosystem in an ocean warming hotspot |url=https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v543/p141-152/ |journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series |volume=543 |pages=141–152 |doi=10.3354/meps11554 |bibcode=2016MEPS..543..141F |issn=0171-8630 |access-date=2024-03-31 |archive-date=2024-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331202203/https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v543/p141-152/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> kelp forests have all but disappeared in many especially vulnerable places, such as [[Tasmania]]'s east coast and the coast of [[Northern California]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Morton|first1=Adam|last2=Cordell|first2=Marni|last3=Fanner|first3=David|last4=Ball|first4=Andy|last5=Evershed|first5=Nick|title=The dead sea: Tasmania's underwater forests disappearing in our lifetime|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/feb/24/the-dead-sea-tasmanias-underwater-forests-disappearing-in-our-lifetime|access-date=2020-10-22|website=The Guardian|archive-date=2020-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022054245/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/feb/24/the-dead-sea-tasmanias-underwater-forests-disappearing-in-our-lifetime|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Steinbauer|first=James|title=What Will It Take to Bring Back the Kelp Forest? - Bay Nature Magazine|url=https://baynature.org/article/bringing-back-kelp/|access-date=2020-10-22|website=Bay Nature|archive-date=2020-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020123222/https://baynature.org/article/bringing-back-kelp/|url-status=live}}</ref> The implementation of [[marine protected areas]] is one management strategy useful for addressing such issues, since it may limit the impacts of fishing and buffer the ecosystem from additive effects of other environmental stressors.