Latest Kelp forest Stories
University of California - Santa Barbara Predation by otters keeps urchin populations in check, allowing kelp –– a favorite food of urchins –– to flourish. But what if otters were harvested to near extinction for their fur? The resulting overabundance of urchins would decimate the kelp forest, leaving little food or shelter for fish and invertebrates. And so it may go, as declines in these species are likely to affect others. Such is the potential trickle-down effect on the food...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online How can sea otters change the world? A new study, led by the University of California, Santa Cruz, suggests that a thriving population of sea otters will keep the sea urchins in check, which will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper. Spreading kelp forests can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to sea urchin ravaging. "It is significant because it shows that animals can have...
Major new marine herbivory study Coral reefs and seashores largely look the way they do because large fish and urchins eat most of the seaweed that might otherwise cover them, but a major new study has found that the greatest impact of all comes from an unexpected quarter – small marine snails. The study published in the journal Ecology Letters is the largest of its kind ever undertaken into the ecological impacts of marine grazing animals: it was led by Associate Professor Alistair...
By Cheryl Dybas, NSFMarine scientists discover wave disturbance, nutrient levels affect California giant kelp growthMarine scientists have a new view of the giant kelp in the Pacific Ocean--through a scuba mask and a satellite's "eye."Forests of giant kelp, or Macrocystis pyrifera, are found in temperate coastal regions and are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.In a melding of data from the beneath the waves and from the skies above, researchers have developed a method...
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have developed new methods for studying how environmental factors and climate affect giant kelp forest ecosystems at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales.The scientists merged data collected underwater by UCSB divers with satellite images of giant kelp canopies taken by the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper. The findings are published in the feature article of the May 16 issue of Marine Ecology Progress Series.In this marriage of marine ecology and satellite...
A new analysis of the extinction of woolly mammoths and other large mammals more than 10,000 years ago suggests that they may have fallen victim to the same type of "trophic cascade" of ecosystem disruption that scientists say is being caused today by the global decline of predators such as wolves, cougars, and sharks.In each case the cascading events were originally begun by human disruption of ecosystems, a new study concludes, but around 15,000 years ago the problem was not the...
New Permanent Exhibition Wing Features Innovative Exhibits Combined with Live Habitats LOS ANGELES, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Science Center will unveil a new permanent exhibition wing, Ecosystems, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 25, 2010. The major expansion nearly doubles the volume of exhibition space at the Science Center and features an unprecedented blend of live animals, and hands-on science exhibits in 11 immersive environments - unique among science...
The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past.The kelp forest tripled in size from the peak of glaciation 20,000 years ago to about 7,500 years ago, then shrank by up to 70 percent to present day levels, according to the study by Rick Grosberg, professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology and the...
All along the California coast, stretching from Los Angeles to San Francisco, a species of rapidly-growing sea kelp from Japan has begun taking over the coastline and spreading quicker than authorities can contain it.The aggressive seaweed, known to scientists as Undaria pinnatifida, was first detected in the area in May when a local biologist noticed the marine plant clinging to piers and boats in a San Francisco Bay yacht harbor. "I was walking in San Francisco Marina, and that's when I saw...
Penguins, fish, sharks and more now on hospital's PackardVisionsystem PALO ALTO, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Bedtime Bingo. The Forever Young Zone. Special movie nights. Just a few of the reasons Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is known for its extraordinarily kid-friendly environment. Now, with the launch of a "live" video channel devoted to the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, the hospital is offering kids and their families a Northern California first. Through the...
Latest Kelp forest Reference Libraries
Kelp forests are areas that are underwater with a high density of kelp. They’re recognized as one of the most dynamic and productive ecosystems on Earth. Smaller regions of anchored kelp are known as kelp beds. Kelp forests can be found worldwide throughout polar and temperate coastal oceans. In the year 2007, kelp forests were discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador as well. While they are physically formed by brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales, kelp forests offer a unique...
The Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci) is a species of bullhead shark that ranges from central California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, and possibly Ecuador and Peru. Its habitat includes rocky reefs, kelp beds, sand flats, crevices, and caverns at depths from 7 to 490 feet. It is mostly nocturnal and is rather sluggish in the daytime. The adult can reach a length of 4 feet and weigh about 22 pounds. It is brown with black spots. If harassed it may bite. It has poisonous spines on...
The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a large otter native to the North Pacific, from northern Japan and Kamchatka east across the Aleutian Islands south to California. The heaviest of the otters, sea otters are the only species within the genus Enhydra. They were hunted extensively for their luxurious fur. Its estimated that a half million to a million otters were killed over time. The population is thought to have been 150,000 to 300,000 historically before the years of the great hunt....
