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Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
Edition 15ISBN: 978-1305090446Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
Edition 15ISBN: 978-1305090446 Exercise 9
THREATS TO KELP FORESTS
A kelp forest is composed of large concentrations of a seaweed called giant kelp. Anchored to the ocean floor, its long blades grow toward the sunlit surface waters (Figure 5.1, right). Under good conditions, the blades can grow 0.6 meter (2 feet) in a day and the plant can grow as tall as a tenstory building. The blades are very flexible and can survive all but the most violent storms and waves.
Kelp forests are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems found in marine waters, supporting large numbers of marine plants and animals. These forests help reduce shore erosion by blunting the force of incoming waves and trapping some of the outgoing sand.
Sea urchins (Figure 5.A) prey on kelp plants. Large populations of these predators can rapidly devastate a kelp forest because they eat the bases of young kelp plants. Scientific studies by biologists, including James Estes of the University of California at Santa Cruz, indicate that the southern sea otter ( Core Case Study ) is a keystone species that helps to sustain kelp forests by controlling populations of sea urchins.
A second threat to kelp forests is polluted water running off the land and into the coastal waters where kelp forests grow. The pollutants in this runoff include pesticides and herbicides that can kill kelp plants and other species and upset the food webs in these aquatic forests. Another runoff pollutant is fertilizer. Its plant nutrients (mostly nitrates) can cause excessive growth of algae and other plants, which block some of the sunlight needed to support the growth of giant kelp.
FIGURE 5.A The purple sea urchin inhabits the coastal waters of the U.S. state of California and feeds on kelp.
Some scientists warn that the warming of the world's oceans now presents a growing threat to kelp forests, which require fairly cool water. If coastal waters get warmer during this century, as projected by climate models, many or most of the California's coastal kelp forests could disappear.
Critical Thinking
List three ways in which we could reduce the degradation of giant kelp forest ecosystems.
A kelp forest is composed of large concentrations of a seaweed called giant kelp. Anchored to the ocean floor, its long blades grow toward the sunlit surface waters (Figure 5.1, right). Under good conditions, the blades can grow 0.6 meter (2 feet) in a day and the plant can grow as tall as a tenstory building. The blades are very flexible and can survive all but the most violent storms and waves.
Kelp forests are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems found in marine waters, supporting large numbers of marine plants and animals. These forests help reduce shore erosion by blunting the force of incoming waves and trapping some of the outgoing sand.
Sea urchins (Figure 5.A) prey on kelp plants. Large populations of these predators can rapidly devastate a kelp forest because they eat the bases of young kelp plants. Scientific studies by biologists, including James Estes of the University of California at Santa Cruz, indicate that the southern sea otter ( Core Case Study ) is a keystone species that helps to sustain kelp forests by controlling populations of sea urchins.
A second threat to kelp forests is polluted water running off the land and into the coastal waters where kelp forests grow. The pollutants in this runoff include pesticides and herbicides that can kill kelp plants and other species and upset the food webs in these aquatic forests. Another runoff pollutant is fertilizer. Its plant nutrients (mostly nitrates) can cause excessive growth of algae and other plants, which block some of the sunlight needed to support the growth of giant kelp.
FIGURE 5.A The purple sea urchin inhabits the coastal waters of the U.S. state of California and feeds on kelp.
Some scientists warn that the warming of the world's oceans now presents a growing threat to kelp forests, which require fairly cool water. If coastal waters get warmer during this century, as projected by climate models, many or most of the California's coastal kelp forests could disappear.
Critical Thinking
List three ways in which we could reduce the degradation of giant kelp forest ecosystems.
Explanation
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The giant kelp is the main sea weed that...
Environmental Science 15th Edition by Scott Spoolman,Tyler Miller
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