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In Alaskan kelp forest ecosystems, sea otters are the keystone species that mediates this trophic cascade. In Southern California, kelp forests persist without sea otters and the control of herbivorous urchins is instead mediated by a suite of predators including lobsters and large fishes, such as the California sheephead.
This "kelp highway hypothesis" suggested that highly productive kelp forests supported rich and diverse marine food webs in nearshore waters, including many types of fish, shellfish, birds, marine mammals, and seaweeds that were similar from Japan to California, Erlandson and his colleagues also argued that coastal kelp forests reduced wave ...
Macrocystis is a monospecific genus [3] of kelp (large brown algae) with all species now synonymous with Macrocystis pyrifera. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or brown algae. Macrocystis has pneumatocysts at the base of its blades.
The Giant kelp marine forests of south east Australia is a community extending from the ocean floor to the ocean surface, on a rocky substrate, and has a ‘forest-like’ structure with many organisms occupying its various layers, including pelagic and demersal fishes, sea birds, turtles and marine mammals in addition to the invertebrate ...
Its fast growth and size provide an important habitat not only for the fish and invertebrates that reside in kelp forests, but also for species that use kelp forests as foraging grounds. [15] In bull kelp forests, kelp crabs are important grazers that control the ecosystem by feeding on large canopy kelps such as Nereocystis .
The area is predominantly marine with high-relief rock reefs and kelp beds anchored by a rocky substrate. The island beaches vary from shallow sand terrain to exposed weathered rock. The south side of the outer islands, such as Wouwer, Howell, Cree and Benson Islands, are subject to strong winds and swells , as are the Crossing Imperial Eagle ...
Pterygophora californica is a large species of kelp, commonly known as stalked kelp. It is the only species in its genus Pterygophora (Ruprecht, 1852). [2] It grows in shallow water on the Pacific coast of North America where it forms part of a biodiverse community in a "kelp forest". It is sometimes also referred to as woody-stemmed kelp ...
Sea otters feed on sea urchins, which are herbivores of kelps. A large mass of kelp can become an underwater kelp forest, which is considered by many to be one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Two more dominant species found in the Marine West Coast Forest are the gray wolf and grizzly bears. Grizzly bears provide a ...