Loss, resilience and recovery of kelp forests in a region of rapid ocean warming.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Changes in kelp abundances on regional scales have been highly variable over the past half-century owing to strong effects of local and regional drivers. Here, we assess patterns and dominant environmental variables causing spatial and interspecific variability in kelp persistence and resilience to change in Nova Scotia over the past 40 years.

Methods

We conducted a survey of macrophyte abundance at 251 sites spanning the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia from 2019 to 2022. We use this dataset to describe spatial variability in kelp species abundances, compare species occurrences to surveys conducted in 1982 and assess changes in kelp abundance over the past 22 years. We then relate spatial and temporal patterns in abundance and resilience to environmental me

SUBMITTER: Krumhansl KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10921841 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature