Transcript By Feryal Jamal Kherissat KELP FOREST I know few things more

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KELP FOREST
By
Feryal Jamal Kherissat
I know few things more
surprising than to see this
plant growing and
flourishing amidst those
breakers of the western
ocean, which no mass of
rock, let it be ever so hard,
can long resist.
Charles Darwin (1860)
Blade - leaf-like : photosynthesis.
Stipe - stem-like structure.
Pneumatocyst - Float - air filled
bladder @ base of each blade
keeps plant at surface for
photosynthesis.
Holdfast - . Anchor, not root.
Kelp Anatomy
Adaptations of
Kelp
A strong holdfast anchors the
kelp to the substrate.
A flexible blade moves with the
motion of the waves.
Growth occurs between the stipe
and the blade instead of at the
blade tip, where erosion
happens.
A hollow stipe offers some
buoyancy to the kelp structure.
Uh oh…quick biology review
Alternation of Generations
sporophyte – makes spores
gametophyte – makes gametes
Life cycle of a typical kelp Laminaria sp
Kelp that has been ripped
off it's moorings will
sometime gather into what
is known as drift kelp.
This kelp floats and drifts
with the currents. This
living kelp can, under the
right conditions, re-anchor
itself in a new area .
The Geographic Distribution Of Kelp Forests.
DISTRUBUTION
Extent of kelp beds depend
on:
Hard substrate must be
available for attachment.
Light.
Cold temperature (absent in
warm temperature and
tropical area).
Nutrients (Kelps limited by
low nutrients).
The Geographic Distribution Of
Kelp Forests
Ecosystem Architecture
4-Midwater and Surface-canopy kelps include the
largest species and often constitute floating
canopies that extend to the ocean surface
(Macrocystis, Nereocysitis).
3-Understory-canopy kelps: A) lie near and along
the sea floor (Laminaria). B) Extend a few
meters above the sea floor and can grow in
dense aggregations (Eisenia).
Gelidium
2-Bottom-canopy plants (Gelidium, plocamium).
1-The benthic assemblage is composed of other
algal species, sessile organisms along the
ocean bottom, and encrusting coralline algae
.
Eisenia arborea
Kelp Productivity
Among the fastest growing plants in the world in either marine or
terrestrial habitats. Maximum elongation rates in the giant kelp
Macrocystis pyriferaare on the order of 12 -18 inches per day.
Kelp forests are among the most productive communities in the
world. Estimates of productivity comparable to tropical rain
forests.
Only about 5-10 % of the primary production is consumed by
grazers in either terrestrial or kelp forests.
In terrestrial forests most of the biomass accumulate on the ground
and persists as litter on the forest floor.
There is small accumulation of kelp litter because kelps
continually sluff organic material which ultimately enters the near
shore food web.
"The numbers of living creatures of all Orders whose
existence intimately depends on kelp is wonderful… I
can only compare these great aquatic forests with the
terrestrial ones in the inter tropical regions." Yet if in
any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe
nearly so many species of animals would perish as
would here from the destruction of kelp.“
Charles Darwin (1860)
The Voyage of the Beagle
Kelp As Nurseries
1. Blades break waves/currents (rock lobsters,
abalone, snapper and wrasse).
2. Shade allows growth of delicate algae
provide food for a range of grazing animals (
snails).
3. Hiding spaces between plants offers protection
for non-moving animals (sponges , sea squirts).
4. Blades and stipes = anchoring point for small
algae which in turn can be eaten by grazing
animals.
Kelp Vs. Herbivores
Urchins
Snails
Kelp Forest Food Webs
Sea Otters are at the top of the kelp forest food chain
No sea otters—sea urchins take the top spot
Habitat Issue
Mechanical forces (storm)
Ripped by storms
LAND
BEACH
food for
herbivores/
detritivores
TUMBLE
continue
to live
Marine pollution and water quality
Die from
Sewage
Fertilizers
Suspended sediment
(dredging/ erosion
phytoplankton)
This caused by dense plankton
blooms, lasting for over six
weeks, with visibility less than
4m. The next year, a similar
disaster happened, and it took six
years before the kelp forest had a
closed canopy again.
Murky water causes
untimely kelp death, the ones
lower down being starved of
light first. This kelp forest is
symptomatic of habitat
degradation.
Invasion species
The arrival of species
from other countries:
grow faster
out compete for space on
rocky reefs.
Underlie pinnatifida
wakame
Kelp Harvesting And
Fisheries
 food for other
species
 food for humans
 toothpatse/antacid