Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera , increases faunal diversity through physical engineering

Miller, Robert J.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Lamy, Thomas; Kui, Li; Rassweiler, Andrew; Reed, Daniel C.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.2571

i

Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera , increases faunal diversity through physical engineering

2018
By Miller, Robert J. ; Lafferty, Kevin D. ; Lamy, Thomas ; ...

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Journal Title:

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Personal Author:

Miller, Robert J. ; Lafferty, Kevin D. ; Lamy, Thomas ; Kui, Li ; Rassweiler, Andrew ; Reed, Daniel C.
NOAA Program & Office:

NOAA General Documents
Description:

Foundation species define the ecosystems they live in, but ecologists have often characterized dominant plants as foundational without supporting evidence. Giant kelp has long been considered a marine foundation species due to its complex structure and high productivity; however, there is little quantitative evidence to evaluate this. Here, we apply structural equation modelling to a 15-year time series of reef community data to evaluate how giant kelp affects the reef community. Although species richness was positively associated with giant kelp biomass, most direct paths did not involve giant kelp. Instead, the foundational qualities of giant kelp were driven mostly by indirect effects attributed to its dominant physical structure and associated engineering influence on the ecosystem, rather than by its use as food by invertebrates and fishes. Giant kelp structure has indirect effects because it shades out understorey algae that compete with sessile invertebrates. When released from competition, sessile species in turn increase the diversity of mobile predators. Sea urchin grazing effects could have been misinterpreted as kelp effects, because sea urchins can overgraze giant kelp, understorey algae and sessile invertebrates alike. Our results confirm the high diversity and biomass associated with kelp forests, but highlight how species interactions and habitat attributes can be misconstrued as direct consequences of a foundation species like giant kelp.
Keywords:

General Agricultural And Biological Sciences General Biochemistry, Genetics And Molecular Biology General Environmental Science General Immunology And Microbiology General Medicine General Agricultural And Biological Sciences General Biochemistry, Genetics And Molecular Biology General Immunology And Microbiology General Agricultural And Biological Sciences General Biochemistry, Genetics And Molecular Biology General Immunology And Microbiology
Source:

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1874), 20172571
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2571
ISSN:

0962-8452 ; 1471-2954
Format:

PDF
Publisher:

The Royal Society
Pubmed ID:

29540514
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC5879622
Document Type:

Journal Article
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:50731fde238165ea5fc9de8e70a435e3f7e3b388912245c19510f629e4004885
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/60057/noaa_60057_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 491.15 KB ]

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