Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests
Kelp forests are critical marine ecosystems that provide habitat and ecological services, as well as economic benefits. However, kelp forests worldwide are facing multiple pressures, including climate change and human activities. In this study, we investigated whether recruitment success, an infrequ...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24003741 |
| _version_ | 1797213358488813568 |
|---|---|
| author | Sara Barrientos Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira Pilar Díaz-Tapia Manuel E. García Rodolfo Barreiro |
| author_facet | Sara Barrientos Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira Pilar Díaz-Tapia Manuel E. García Rodolfo Barreiro |
| author_sort | Sara Barrientos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Kelp forests are critical marine ecosystems that provide habitat and ecological services, as well as economic benefits. However, kelp forests worldwide are facing multiple pressures, including climate change and human activities. In this study, we investigated whether recruitment success, an infrequently recorded variable in kelp monitoring studies, was affected in degraded kelp reefs where adult golden kelps (Laminaria ochroleuca) were persistently absent due to fish consumption. We conducted a three-year seasonal monitoring of kelp recruits and juveniles in both healthy and degraded kelp reefs in northwest Spain. Our findings reveal a decline in spring kelp recruitment over time on degraded reefs, while it remained stable on healthy reefs. The results indicate that continued herbivory pressure can decrease kelp recruitment, suggesting the potential exhaustion of kelp stand resilience. Altogether, our study highlights the importance of biotic interactions, such as herbivory, in understanding changes in kelp forest dynamics. Moreover, it emphasizes the significance of including recruitment in kelp forest assessments as an indicator of resilience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:57:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-06a4c89a204c499d824891fae906572f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:57:01Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-06a4c89a204c499d824891fae906572f2024-04-12T04:44:56ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2024-03-01160111917Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forestsSara Barrientos0Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira1Pilar Díaz-Tapia2Manuel E. García3Rodolfo Barreiro4BioCost Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias and Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Universidad de A Coruña 15071, A Coruña, Spain; Corresponding author.BioCost Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias and Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Universidad de A Coruña 15071, A Coruña, SpainBioCost Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias and Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Universidad de A Coruña 15071, A Coruña, Spain; Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartment of Ecology and Marine Resources, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC), Eduardo Cabello 6 36208, Vigo, SpainBioCost Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias and Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Universidad de A Coruña 15071, A Coruña, SpainKelp forests are critical marine ecosystems that provide habitat and ecological services, as well as economic benefits. However, kelp forests worldwide are facing multiple pressures, including climate change and human activities. In this study, we investigated whether recruitment success, an infrequently recorded variable in kelp monitoring studies, was affected in degraded kelp reefs where adult golden kelps (Laminaria ochroleuca) were persistently absent due to fish consumption. We conducted a three-year seasonal monitoring of kelp recruits and juveniles in both healthy and degraded kelp reefs in northwest Spain. Our findings reveal a decline in spring kelp recruitment over time on degraded reefs, while it remained stable on healthy reefs. The results indicate that continued herbivory pressure can decrease kelp recruitment, suggesting the potential exhaustion of kelp stand resilience. Altogether, our study highlights the importance of biotic interactions, such as herbivory, in understanding changes in kelp forest dynamics. Moreover, it emphasizes the significance of including recruitment in kelp forest assessments as an indicator of resilience.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24003741Laminaria ochroleucaKelp forestGrazingRecruitmentNW Atlantic |
| spellingShingle | Sara Barrientos Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira Pilar Díaz-Tapia Manuel E. García Rodolfo Barreiro Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests Ecological Indicators Laminaria ochroleuca Kelp forest Grazing Recruitment NW Atlantic |
| title | Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| title_full | Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| title_fullStr | Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| title_short | Recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| title_sort | recruitment as a possible indicator of declining resilience in degraded kelp forests |
| topic | Laminaria ochroleuca Kelp forest Grazing Recruitment NW Atlantic |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24003741 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sarabarrientos recruitmentasapossibleindicatorofdecliningresilienceindegradedkelpforests AT cristinapineirocorbeira recruitmentasapossibleindicatorofdecliningresilienceindegradedkelpforests AT pilardiaztapia recruitmentasapossibleindicatorofdecliningresilienceindegradedkelpforests AT manuelegarcia recruitmentasapossibleindicatorofdecliningresilienceindegradedkelpforests AT rodolfobarreiro recruitmentasapossibleindicatorofdecliningresilienceindegradedkelpforests |