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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

30/01/23 20:08 PM IST

Kelp forests losing unique traits due to climate change, says study

In News
  • Kelp forests — underwater ecosystems formed in shallow water by the dense growth of several different species known as kelps — are declining because of climate change, showed a new study.
Major Findings
  • Kelp populations at equatorward-range edges are particularly vulnerable to climate change as these locations are undergoing warming at or beyond thermal tolerance thresholds.
  • Due to this, the unique adaptive or evolutionary genetic diversity that the rear-edge populations (populations in warm, low-latitudes) may contain is also under threat due to rapid warming.
  • Kelp forests provide underwater habitats to hundreds of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae and have great ecological and economic value. Loss of kelp forests will also lead to a decline of the unique biodiversity that they support.
  • Ecklonia radiata, the dominant and most widely distributed Laminarian kelp in the southern hemisphere, rapidly succumb to warmer temperatures in spring and summer when temperatures exceed 27 degrees Celsius.
  • New populations were found in shallower and cooler winter months with temperatures around 20°C.
About Kelp forests
  • Kelp thrives in cold, nutrient-rich waters.
  • They attach to the seafloor and eventually grow to the water’s surface and rely on sunlight to generate food and energy, kelp forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water.
  • They provide underwater habitats to hundreds of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae and have great ecological and economic value.
Distribution of Kelp forest
  • Kelp forests have been observed throughout the Arctic by the Inuit. The Canadian Arctic alone represents 10 per cent of the world’s coastlines.
  • These cool water species have special strategies to survive freezing temperatures and long periods of darkness and even grow under sea ice.
  • In regions with cold, nutrient-rich water, they can attain some of the highest rates of primary production of any natural ecosystem on Earth.
  • Between Ellesmere Island and Labrador, as well as along the coasts of Lancaster Sound, Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, and Resolute Bay in Hudson Bay and eastern Canada, kelp forests have been scientifically documented.
Source- DTE

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