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Kelp forest
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== Human use == [[File:A diver records kelp growth (9296).jpg|thumb|A diver measures kelp growth]] Kelp forests have been important to human existence for thousands of years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Simenstad |first1=Charles A. |last2=Estes |first2=James A. |last3=Kenyon |first3=Karl W. |date=1978-04-28 |title=Aleuts, Sea Otters, and Alternate Stable-State Communities |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.200.4340.403 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=200 |issue=4340 |pages=403–411 |doi=10.1126/science.200.4340.403 |pmid=17757287 |bibcode=1978Sci...200..403S |issn=0036-8075 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154030/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.200.4340.403 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Indeed, many now theorise that the first colonisation of the Americas was due to fishing communities following the Pacific kelp forests during the last ice age. One theory contends that the kelp forests that would have stretched from northeast Asia to the American Pacific coast would have provided many benefits to ancient boaters <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Erlandson |first1=Jon M. |last2=Graham |first2=Michael H. |last3=Bourque |first3=Bruce J. |last4=Corbett |first4=Debra |last5=Estes |first5=James A. |last6=Steneck |first6=Robert S. |date=2007-10-30 |title=The Kelp Highway Hypothesis: Marine Ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the Peopling of the Americas |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564890701628612 |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=161–174 |doi=10.1080/15564890701628612 |issn=1556-4894|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The kelp forests would have provided many sustenance opportunities, as well as acting as a type of buffer from rough water. Besides these benefits, researchers believe that the kelp forests might have helped early boaters navigate, acting as a type of "kelp highway". Theorists also suggest that the kelp forests would have helped these ancient colonists by providing a stable way of life and preventing them from having to adapt to new ecosystems and develop new survival methods even as they traveled thousands of miles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Erlandson |first1=Jon M. |last2=Braje |first2=Todd J. |last3=Gill |first3=Kristina M. |last4=Graham |first4=Michael H. |date=2015-09-02 |title=Ecology of the Kelp Highway: Did Marine Resources Facilitate Human Dispersal From Northeast Asia to the Americas? |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2014.1001923 |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=392–411 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2014.1001923 |issn=1556-4894 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154040/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2014.1001923 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Modern economies are based on [[fisheries]] of kelp-associated species such as [[lobster]] and rockfish. Humans can also harvest kelp directly to feed aquaculture species such as [[abalone]] and to extract the compound [[alginic acid]], which is used in products like toothpaste and antacids.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gutierrez |first1=Alfonso |last2=Correa |first2=Tomás |last3=Muñoz |first3=Verónica |last4=Santibañez |first4=Alejandro |last5=Marcos |first5=Roberto |last6=Cáceres |first6=Carlos |last7=Buschmann |first7=Alejandro H. |date=2006-11-27 |title=Farming of the Giant Kelp Macrocystis Pyrifera in Southern Chile for Development of Novel Food Products |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10811-006-9025-y |journal=Journal of Applied Phycology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=3–5 |pages=259–267 |doi=10.1007/s10811-006-9025-y |bibcode=2006JAPco..18..259G |issn=0921-8971 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007153940/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-006-9025-y |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ortiz |first1=Marco |last2=Stotz |first2=Wolfgang |date=January 2007 |title=Ecological and eco-social models for the introduction of the abalone Haliotis discus hannai into benthic systems of north-central Chile: sustainability assessment |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.791 |journal=Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=89–105 |doi=10.1002/aqc.791 |bibcode=2007ACMFE..17...89O |issn=1052-7613 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007153204/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.791 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Kelp forests are valued for recreational activities such as [[SCUBA diving]] and [[kayaking]]; the industries that support these sports represent one benefit related to the ecosystem and the enjoyment derived from these activities represents another. All of these are examples of [[ecosystem services]] provided specifically by kelp forests. The Monterey Bay aquarium was the first aquarium<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nielsen |first=Brittany |date=2021-10-21 |title=Monterey Bay Aquarium celebrates its 37th birthday |url=https://www.ksbw.com/article/monterey-bay-aquarium-celebrates-its-37th-birthday/38016805 |access-date=2024-10-06 |language=en |archive-date=2022-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202190211/https://www.ksbw.com/article/monterey-bay-aquarium-celebrates-its-37th-birthday/38016805 |url-status=live }}</ref> to exhibit an alive kelp forest. === As carbon sequesters === Kelp forests grow in rocky places along the shore that are constantly eroding carrying material out to the deep sea. The kelp then sinks to the ocean floor and store the carbon where is it unlikely to be disturbed by human activity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurlimann |first=Sylvia |date=4 July 2019 |title=How Kelp Naturally Combats Global Climate Change |url=https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/how-kelp-naturally-combats-global-climate-change/ |access-date=21 June 2022 |website=Science in the News |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007153255/https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/how-kelp-naturally-combats-global-climate-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Researchers from the [[University of Western Australia]] estimated kelp forest around Australia sequestered 1.3-2.8 teragrams of carbon per year which is 27–34% of the total annual [[blue carbon]] sequestered in the Australian continent by [[tidal marsh]]es, [[mangrove forest]]s and [[Seagrass meadow|seagrass beds]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Filbee-Dexter |first1=Karen |last2=Wernberg |first2=Thomas |date=23 July 2020 |title=Substantial blue carbon in overlooked Australian kelp forests |journal=Scientific Reports|volume=10 |issue=1 |page=12341 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-69258-7 |pmid=32703990 |pmc=7378163 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1012341F }}</ref> Every year 200 million tons of carbon dioxide are being sequestered by macroalgae such as kelp.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Krause-Jensen |first1=Dorte |last2=M. Duarte |first2=Carlos |date=12 September 2016 |title=Substantial role of macroalgae in marine carbon sequestration |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2790 |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=9 |issue=10 |pages=737–742 |doi=10.1038/ngeo2790 |bibcode=2016NatGe...9..737K |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-date=20 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620135631/https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2790 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
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