Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment From 2012 to 2015
Simon Reeves
Sub-tidal rocky reefs dominated by kelp beds cover extensive areas of temperate coastlines worldwide. However, recent studies piecing together baseline information and dynamics over past decades show an increasing trend of kelp bed collapse. Loss of kelp bed habitats has important flow-on effects to entire reef ecosystems, such as reducing structural complexity which supports rich biodiversity and commercially harvestable reef species. Importantly, collapsed kelp beds can be practically unrecoverable as reefs shift to alternative and stable configurations. A seemingly critical, but largely undefined component defining the resilience of kelp beds is the dynamics of fragmentation across remnant kelp patches. This project is therefore exploring spatial dynamics of kelp collapse so that optimal approaches to managing their resilience can be identified.
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Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Phone: +61 3 6226 6379
ABN: 30 764 374 782 CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B