Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century.

ABSTRACT: Kelp forests (Order Laminariales) form key biogenic habitats in coastal regions of temperate and Arctic seas worldwide, providing ecosystem services valued in the range of billions of dollars annually. Although local evidence suggests that kelp forests are increasingly threatened by a variety of stressors, no comprehensive global analysis of change in kelp abundances currently exists. Here, we build and analyze a global database of kelp time series spanning the past half-century to assess regional and global trends in kelp abundances. We detected a high degree of geographic variation in trends, with regional variability in the direction and magnitude of change far exceeding a small global average decline (instantaneous rate of change = -0.018 y^-1). Our analysis identified declin

SUBMITTER: Krumhansl KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5137772 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature