Trophic versus structural effects of a marine foundation species, giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera)

Even protected seaweeds must face a warming ocean: Sea surface temperatures trigger tissue bleaching and breakdown in the unique giant Irish moss (Chondrus crispus)

Current projections of rising sea surface temperatures (SST) pose a threat to marine macroalgae, particularly those living in shallow coastal areas. The giant Irish moss, a unique strain of the common red alga Chondrus crispus, is found solely in a coastal lagoon in Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada, and has undergone a two-decade population decline. Despite protection efforts, this alga has not recovered to its pre-decline abundance, which may be due to, among other factors, warming ocean temperatures. This study used laboratory experiments to examine the effects of a range of temperatures, either as steady or discrete temperature spikes, on algal fronds' weight and surface area. The results from both types of experiments were congruent and supported the notion that temperatures in the upper range of those currently occurring or predicted to occur, cause the worst losses in weight and surface area. Forecasted increases in SSTs leave the giant Irish moss vulnerable to further population declines and represent a concern for the long-term sustainability of this unique strain of Irish moss.

Microbial communities associated with kelp detritus in temperate and subantarctic intertidal sediments

Kelp forests, among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, cover large areas of the South Atlantic coast. Sediment heterotrophic bacteria have a pivotal role in the degradation of kelp biomass, however, the response of sediment microbial communities to periodic kelp biomass inputs is mostly unknown. Here, we show that kelp biomass induced rapid changes in overlying water chemistry and shifts in sediment microbial communities, which differed in the experimental systems containing Macrocystis pyrifera (M) and Undaria pinnatifida (U) with sediments of the respective regions. We observed results compatible with the degradation of labile, high molecular weight compounds into smaller and more refractory compounds towards the end of the incubations. The capability of microbial communities to degrade alginate, the major component of kelp cell walls, significantly increased with respect to controls after kelp biomass addition (Absorbance at 235 nm 1.2 ± 0.3 and 1.0 ± 0.2 for M and U, respectively, controls <0.2, t = 4 days). Shifts in microbial community structure (based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) were tightly related to the kelp treatment and, to a lesser extent, to the sediment provenance (Principal Coordinates Analysis, 80 % of variation explained in the first two axes). Dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, alginolytic potential, Absorbance at 235 and 600 nm, total N, total C, and SUVA index correlated significantly with community structure. Differentially abundant populations between kelp-amended treatments and controls included members of the Flavobacteriia class (Algibacter and Polaribacter), and Gammaproteobacteria (Psychromonas and Marinomonas), among others. Metagenomes of M and U-amended sediments contained sequences from 18 of the 19 enzyme families related to alginate or fucoidan degradation. Specific taxonomic groups were associated with enzyme classes targeting different substrates, suggesting niche differentiation. This work expands our knowledge on the patterns of microbial assemblages from intertidal sediments in response to kelp biomass inputs.

Assemblage structure and spatial diversity patterns of kelp forest-associated fishes in Southern Patagonia

Knowledge of the ecology of the fish fauna associated with kelp (primarily Macrocystis pyrifera) forests in Southern Patagonia is scarce, especially in how abiotic and biotic variables influence their structure, diversity, and distribution. This information is important for the management and conservation of this unique ecosystem, which has minimal anthropogenic impacts at present. We analyzed data from 122 quantitative underwater transects conducted within kelp forests at 61 stations from Chile's southern Patagonian fjords to the Cape Horn and Diego Ramirez archipelagos and the southern tip of Argentina, including the Mitre Peninsula and Isla de los Estados. In total, 25 fish species belonging to 13 families were observed. Multivariate analysis indicated that there are significant differences in fish assemblage structure among locations and wave exposures, which was driven primarily by Patagonotothen sima and Paranotothenia magellanica, which occurred on exposed and semi-exposed stations. P. cornucola was mainly distributed across sheltered stations of the Kawésqar National Park. Temperature, salinity, depth, and kelp density influenced fish assemblage structure, with the highest diversity in areas with the lowest temperature and greater depth at Isla de los Estados. In contrast, species richness, diversity, abundance, and biomass were all lower in areas with high density of the understory kelp Lessonia spp., which might be driven by the absence of P. tessellata, P. squamiceps and P. cornucola, the most important species in terms of occurrence, abundance, and biomass. Our study provides the first broad-scale description of the fish assemblages associated with kelp forests along the southern cone of South America based on non-invasive visual transects, improving our knowledge of the distribution of fish assemblages across several environmental conditions in this vast and little-studied area.

Negative Consequences on the Growth, Morphometry, and Community Structure of the Kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) by a Short Pollution Pulse of Heavy Metals and PAHs

The study of pollution effects in the marine environment has become important in recent decades, and the exposure to simultaneous pollutants has become especially relevant. Indeed, the study of key organisms, such as ecosystem engineers, can show a broader view of the effects of pollutants. In this context, we evaluate in situ the effects of a short (7-day) pollution pulse of combined solutions of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Cu + PAHs, Cd + PAHs, Cu + Cd, and Cu + Cd + PAHs) on the development and morphological features of Macrocystis pyrifera sporophytes over a period of 90 days. Additionally, we determined the effects on the community structure associated with this kelp. This study evidenced a smaller number of blades and a decreased size of blades and holdfasts, as well as the death of individuals exposed to a secondary mix of metals (Cu + Cd) and a tertiary mix of pollutants (Cu + Cd + PAHs). Regarding the effects on the accompanying fauna, low richness and diversity were registered. M. pyrifera grazers, according to the mixture of pollutants, were either absent or diminished. These results show that the pulse of contamination in the early stages of M. pyrifera negatively affects its development and morphometry, as well as its role as an ecosystem engineer, due to a negative alteration in the species composition.

Variation in disturbance to a foundation species structures the dynamics of a benthic reef community

Disturbance and foundation species can both have strong impacts on ecosystem structure and function, but studies of their interacting effects are hindered by the long life spans and slow growth of most foundation species. Here, we investigated the extent to which foundation species may mediate the impacts of disturbance on ecological communities, using the kelp forest ecosystem as a study system. Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) grows rapidly and experiences wave disturbance from winter storms. We developed and analyzed a model of the effects of variable storm regimes on giant kelp population dynamics and of the cascading effects on kelp-mediated competition between benthic community members in kelp forests. Simulations of severe storm regimes resulted in a greater abundance of understory macroalgae and a lower abundance of sessile invertebrates than did milder regimes. Both the cascading effects of periodic loss of giant kelp as well as the degree to which storms directly impacted the benthos (in the form of scouring) influenced the outcome of competition between benthic community members. The model's qualitative predictions were consistent with empirical data from a 20-yr time series of community dynamics, suggesting that interannual variability in disturbance that affects giant kelp abundance can have strong consequences for benthic community structure. Our findings point to the value of long-term studies in elucidating the interacting effects of disturbance and foundation species.

Geographic variation in responses of kelp forest communities of the California Current to recent climatic changes

The changing global climate is having profound effects on coastal marine ecosystems around the world. Structure, functioning, and resilience, however, can vary geographically, depending on species composition, local oceanographic forcing, and other pressures from human activities and use. Understanding ecological responses to environmental change and predicting changes in the structure and functioning of whole ecosystems require large-scale, long-term studies, yet most studies trade spatial extent for temporal duration. We address this shortfall by integrating multiple long-term kelp forest monitoring datasets to evaluate biogeographic patterns and rates of change of key functional groups (FG) along the west coast of North America. Analysis of data from 469 sites spanning Alaska, USA, to Baja California, Mexico, and 373 species (assigned to 18 FG) reveals regional variation in responses to both long-term (2006-2016) change and a recent marine heatwave (2014-2016) associated with two atmospheric and oceanographic anomalies, the "Blob" and extreme El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Canopy-forming kelps appeared most sensitive to warming throughout their range. Other FGs varied in their responses among trophic levels, ecoregions, and in their sensitivity to heatwaves. Changes in community structure were most evident within the southern and northern California ecoregions, while communities in the center of the range were more resilient. We report a poleward shift in abundance of some key FGs. These results reveal major, ongoing region-wide changes in productive coastal marine ecosystems in response to large-scale climate variability, and the potential loss of foundation species. In particular, our results suggest that coastal communities that are dependent on kelp forests will be more impacted in the southern portion of the California Current region, highlighting the urgency of implementing adaptive strategies to sustain livelihoods and ensure food security. The results also highlight the value of multiregional integration and coordination of monitoring programs for improving our understanding of marine ecosystems, with the goal of informing policy and resource management in the future.

Foundation species promote community stability by increasing diversity in a giant kelp forest

Foundation species structure communities, promote biodiversity, and stabilize ecosystem processes by creating locally stable environmental conditions. Despite their critical importance, the role of foundation species in stabilizing natural communities has seldom been quantified. In theory, the stability of a foundation species should promote community stability by enhancing species richness, altering the population fluctuations of individual species, or both. Here we tested the hypothesis that the stability of a marine foundation species, the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, increased the stability of the aggregate biomass of a phylogenetically diverse assemblage of understory algae and sessile invertebrates that compete for space beneath the giant kelp canopy. To achieve this goal, we analyzed an 18-yr time series of the biomass of giant kelp and its associated benthic community collected from 32 plots distributed among nine shallow reefs in the Santa Barbara Channel, USA. We showed that the stability of understory algae and sessile invertebrates was positively and indirectly related to the stability of giant kelp, which primarily resulted from giant kelp's direct positive association with species richness. The stability of all community types was positively related to species richness via increased species stability and species asynchrony. The stabilizing effects of richness were three to four times stronger when algae and invertebrates were considered separately rather than in combination. Our finding that diversity-stability relationships were stronger in communities consisting of species with similar resource requirements suggests that competition for shared resources rather than differential responses to environmental conditions played a more important role in stabilizing the community. Increasing threats to structure-forming foundation species worldwide necessitates a detailed understanding of how they influence their associated community. This study is among the first to show that dampened temporal fluctuations in the biomass of a foundation species is an important determinant of the stability of the complex communities it supports.

Long-Term Ecological Research and Evolving Frameworks of Disturbance Ecology

Detecting and understanding disturbance is a challenge in ecology that has grown more critical with global environmental change and the emergence of research on social–ecological systems. We identify three areas of research need: developing a flexible framework that incorporates feedback loops between social and ecological systems, anticipating whether a disturbance will change vulnerability to other environmental drivers, and incorporating changes in system sensitivity to disturbance in the face of global changes in environmental drivers. In the present article, we review how discoveries from the US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network have influenced theoretical paradigms in disturbance ecology, and we refine a framework for describing social–ecological disturbance that addresses these three challenges. By operationalizing this framework for seven LTER sites spanning distinct biomes, we show how disturbance can maintain or alter ecosystem state, drive spatial patterns at landscape scales, influence social–ecological interactions, and cause divergent outcomes depending on other environmental changes.

Climate and fishing drive regime shifts in consumer-mediated nutrient cycling in kelp forests

Globally, anthropogenic pressures are reducing the abundances of marine species and altering ecosystems through modification of trophic interactions. Yet, consumer declines also disrupt important bottom-up processes, like nutrient recycling, which are critical for ecosystem functioning. Consumer-mediated nutrient dynamics (CND) is now considered a major biogeochemical component of most ecosystems, but lacking long-term studies, it is difficult to predict how CND will respond to accelerating disturbances in the wake of global change. To aid such predictions, we coupled empirical ammonium excretion rates with an 18-year time series of the standing biomass of common benthic macroinvertebrates in southern California kelp forests. This time series of excretion rates encompassed an extended period of extreme ocean warming, disease outbreaks, and the abolishment of fishing at two of our study sites, allowing us to assess kelp forest CND across a wide range of environmental conditions. At their peak, reef invertebrates supplied an average of 18.3 ± 3.0 µmol NH4 +  m-2  hr-1 to kelp forests when sea stars were regionally abundant, but dropped to 3.5 ± 1.0 µmol NH4 +  m-2  hr-1 following their mass mortality due to disease during a prolonged period of extreme warming. However, a coincident increase in the abundance of the California spiny lobster, Palinurus interupptus (Randall, 1840), likely in response to both reduced fishing and a warmer ocean, compensated for much of the recycled ammonium lost to sea star mortality. Both lobsters and sea stars are widely recognized as key predators that can profoundly influence community structure in benthic marine systems. Our study is the first to demonstrate their importance in nutrient cycling, thus expanding their roles in the ecosystem. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of warming events, and rising human populations are intensifying fishing pressure in coastal ecosystems worldwide. Our study documents how these projected global changes can drive regime shifts in CND and fundamentally alter a critical ecosystem function.

Living on the Edge: Variation in the Abundance and Demography of a Kelp Forest Epibiont

The ecology of an epibiont may depend not only on the dynamics of its biogenic habitat but also on microclimate variation generated within aggregations of its host, a process called physical ecosystem engineering. This study explored variation in the abundance and demography of Membranipora, a suspension-feeding bryozoan, within forests of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, USA. First, we assessed differences in Membranipora abundance between the edge and interior of kelp forests. The occurrence of Membranipora on kelp blades and its percent cover on occupied blades were higher along forest edges than interiors. Second, we conducted observational studies and field experiments to understand spatial variation in substrate longevity, colony mortality, larval recruitment, and colony growth rates. A higher density of recruits and colonies occurred along forest edges than interiors, suggesting kelp acts like a sieve, whereby larvae settle to edge blades first. Moreover, growth rates along the edge were up to 45% higher than forest interiors. Reduced current speeds, combined with feeding by exterior colonies, may have lowered the uptake of suspended food particles by interior colonies. These results suggest that variation in Membranipora abundance is due in part to differences in colony growth between forest edges and interiors, and not solely the result of recruitment limitation. Our results highlight the importance of ecosystem engineers in influencing the ecological dynamics of epiphytic flora and fauna in marine systems.

Foundation species enhance food web complexity through non-trophic facilitation

Food webs are an integral part of every ecosystem on the planet, yet understanding the mechanisms shaping these complex networks remains a major challenge. Recently, several studies suggested that non-trophic species interactions such as habitat modification and mutualisms can be important determinants of food web structure. However, it remains unclear whether these findings generalize across ecosystems, and whether non-trophic interactions affect food webs randomly, or affect specific trophic levels or functional groups. Here, we combine analyses of 58 food webs from seven terrestrial, freshwater and coastal systems to test (1) the general hypothesis that non-trophic facilitation by habitat-forming foundation species enhances food web complexity, and (2) whether these enhancements have either random or targeted effects on particular trophic levels, functional groups, and linkages throughout the food web. Our empirical results demonstrate that foundation species consistently enhance food web complexity in all seven ecosystems. Further analyses reveal that 15 out of 19 food web properties can be well-approximated by assuming that foundation species randomly facilitate species throughout the trophic network. However, basal species are less strongly, and carnivores are more strongly facilitated in foundation species' food webs than predicted based on random facilitation, resulting in a higher mean trophic level and a longer average chain length. Overall, we conclude that foundation species strongly enhance food web complexity through non-trophic facilitation of species across the entire trophic network. We therefore suggest that the structure and stability of food webs often depends critically on non-trophic facilitation by foundation species.

Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, increases faunal diversity through physical engineering

Foundation species define the ecosystems they live in, but ecologists have often characterized dominant plants as foundational without supporting evidence. Giant kelp has long been considered a marine foundation species due to its complex structure and high productivity; however, there is little quantitative evidence to evaluate this. Here, we apply structural equation modelling to a 15-year time series of reef community data to evaluate how giant kelp affects the reef community. Although species richness was positively associated with giant kelp biomass, most direct paths did not involve giant kelp. Instead, the foundational qualities of giant kelp were driven mostly by indirect effects attributed to its dominant physical structure and associated engineering influence on the ecosystem, rather than by its use as food by invertebrates and fishes. Giant kelp structure has indirect effects because it shades out understorey algae that compete with sessile invertebrates. When released from competition, sessile species in turn increase the diversity of mobile predators. Sea urchin grazing effects could have been misinterpreted as kelp effects, because sea urchins can overgraze giant kelp, understorey algae and sessile invertebrates alike. Our results confirm the high diversity and biomass associated with kelp forests, but highlight how species interactions and habitat attributes can be misconstrued as direct consequences of a foundation species like giant kelp.

Scale-specific drivers of kelp forest communities

Identifying spatial scales of variation in natural communities and the processes driving them is critical for obtaining a predictive understanding of biodiversity. In this study, we focused on diverse communities inhabiting productive kelp forests on shallow subtidal rocky reefs in southern California, USA. We combined long-term community surveys from 86 sites with detailed environmental data to determine what structures assemblages of fishes, invertebrates and algae at multiple spatial scales. We identified the spatial scales of variation in species composition using a hierarchical analysis based on eigenfunctions, and assessed how sea surface temperature (SST), water column chlorophyll, giant kelp biomass, wave exposure and potential propagule delivery strength contributed to community variation at each scale. Spatial effects occurring at multiple scales explained 60% of the variation in fish assemblages and 52% of the variation in the assemblages of invertebrates and algae. Most variation occurred over broad spatial scales (> 200 km) consistent with spatial heterogeneity in SST and potential propagule delivery strength, while the latter also explained community variation at medium scales (65-200 km). Small scale (1-65 km) community variation was substantial but not linked to any of the measured drivers. Conclusions were consistent for both reef fishes and benthic invertebrates and algae, despite sharp differences in their adult mobility. Our results demonstrate the scale dependence of environmental drivers on kelp forest communities, showing that most species were strongly sorted along oceanographic conditions over various spatial scales. Such spatial effects must be integrated into models assessing the response of marine ecosystems to climate change.

Assessing the ecosystem-level consequences of a small-scale artisanal kelp fishery within the context of climate-change

Coastal communities worldwide rely on small-scale artisanal fisheries as a means of increasing food security and alleviating poverty. Even small-scale fishing activities, however, are prone to resource depletion and environmental degradation, which can erode livelihoods in the long run. Thus, there is a pressing need to identify viable and resilient artisanal fisheries, and generate knowledge to support management within the context of a rapidly changing climate. We examined the ecosystem-level consequences of an artisanal kelp fishery (Macrocystis pyrifera), finding small-scale harvest of this highly productive species poses minimal impacts on kelp recovery rates, survival, and biomass dynamics, and abundances of associated commercial and culturally important fish species. These results suggest that small-scale harvest poses minimal trade-offs for the other economic benefits provided by these ecosystems, and their inherent, spiritual, and cultural value to humans. However, we detected a negative impact of warmer seawater temperatures on kelp recovery rates following harvest, indicating that the viability of harvest, even at small scales, may be threatened by future increases in global ocean temperature. This suggests that negative impacts of artisanal fisheries may be more likely to arise in the context of a warming climate, further highlighting the widespread effects of global climate change on coastal fisheries and livelihoods.