​A JOURNEY THROUGH GRADUATE SCHOOL AND THE KELP FORESTS  OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Gallery
  • Explore
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Common Word Challenge
    • Contact
The synergy of science, communication and exploration

Hot off the press! First pub from the Aleutians!

4/6/2020

0 Comments

 
I am very pleased to announce that the Edwards Lab's first paper from our 2016-2017 Aleutian Archipelago research  trip has been published in PLOS One! You can access, "Marine deforestation leads to widespread loss of ecosystem function" here


Abstract
Trophic interactions can result in changes to the abundance and distribution of habitat-form- ing species that dramatically reduce ecosystem functioning. In the coastal zone of the Aleu- tian Archipelago, overgrazing by herbivorous sea urchins that began in the 1990s resulted in widespread deforestation of the region’s kelp forests, which led to lower macroalgal abun- dances and higher benthic irradiances. We examined how this deforestation impacted eco- system function by comparing patterns of net ecosystem production (NEP), gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Re), and the range between GPP and Re in rem- nant kelp forests, urchin barrens, and habitats that were in transition between the two habitat types at nine islands that spanned more than 1000 kilometers of the archipelago. Our results show that deforestation, on average, resulted in a 24% reduction in GPP, a 26% reduction in Re, and a 24% reduction in the range between GPP and Re. Further, the transition habitats were intermediate to the kelp forests and urchin barrens for these metrics. These opposing metabolic processes remained in balance; however, which resulted in little-to-no changes to NEP. These effects of deforestation on ecosystem productivity, however, were highly vari- able between years and among the study islands. In light of the worldwide declines in kelp forests observed in recent decades, our findings suggest that marine deforestation pro- foundly affects how coastal ecosystems function. 


edwards_et_al._2020.pdf
File Size: 2128 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    ​Pike Spector is currently a Research Operations Specialist with Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

    Click here for Pike's Github Repo! 

    Tweet @BaronvonUrchin
    for more phycology fun! 

    Curious about Pike's ( now completed) master's thesis? Check out the Common Word challenge! 

    Archives

    August 2022
    October 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Gallery
  • Explore
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Common Word Challenge
    • Contact