Extreme warming challenges sentinel status of kelp forests as indicators of climate change.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Reed D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5159872 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Extreme warming challenges sentinel status of kelp forests as indicators of climate change.
Reed Daniel D Washburn Libe L Rassweiler Andrew A Miller Robert R Bell Tom T Harrer Shannon S
Nature communications 20161213
The desire to use sentinel species as early warning indicators of impending climate change effects on entire ecosystems is attractive, but we need to verify that such approaches have sound biological foundations. A recent large-scale warming event in the North Pacific Ocean of unprecedented magnitude and duration allowed us to evaluate the sentinel status of giant kelp, a coastal foundation species that thrives in cold, nutrient-rich waters and is considered sensitive to warming. Here, we show t ...[more]
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