Dan Reed1, Andrew Rassweiler2, Max Castorani3, Billie Beckley1, Robert Miller1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
1University of California Santa Barbara, USA - 2Florida State University, USA - 3University of Virginia, USA
Temperate reef ecosystems are fundamentally shaped by the standing biomass and net primary production (NPP) of macroalgae. Consequently, knowledge of the spatiotemporal dynamics of macroalgal biomass and NPP and the processes underlying them is critical for understanding and managing temperate reefs. Despite this importance, there are few long-term spatially replicated studies of macroalgal biomass and NPP, which hampers forecasting how temperate reef ecosystems will respond to a multitude of pressures associated with climate variation and human actions. Using monthly time series data spanning 20 years and results from a decade long experiment we show how physical disturbance, grazing and environmental conditions affect the demography of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) and its interactions with understory macroalgae to drive spatiotemporal variation in macroalgal biomass and NPP of kelp forests in California, USA. Our results highlight the high variation inherent in macroalgal NPP and underscore the importance of understanding the factors that drive it when forecasting the ecological responses and ecosystem consequences of temperate reefs to future change.
Biography
Dan Reed is a marine ecologist. Giant kelp forests have been the focal ecosystem for most of his research, which includes studies on dispersal, recruitment, reproduction, population dynamics, community ecology, primary production and trophic interactions.