In fact, these lush underwater forests are particularly striking in the Arctic, where terrestrial coasts are barren and ice scoured with little three-dimensional structure. KELPEX has published a review in Global and Planetary Change that synthesizes existing information on arctic kelp forests, analyzes recent changes environmental conditions at known kelp locations, and explores the impacts of these changes. Predictive models and laboratory experiments suggest the ‘borealization’ of arctic kelp forests will occur as temperatures warm, altering the species composition of existing cold and ice-adapted kelp communities in high Arctic regions. A warmer Arctic with less sea ice may support more
At least that is our opinion. And trust us, we are not biased in any way. This week the KELPEX team published a book chapter in 'World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation' on everything kelp. Here are some highlights: Kelp forests are stands of large brown seaweeds that create complex seascape structures. Kelps range along 25% of the world’s coastlines and are highly productive. The only other ecosystems that rival their productivity are tropical rain forests and wetlands. Many kelp forests a few decades from now will differ substantially from what they are today. Threats to kelp forest ecosystems have increased in number and severity over the past half century, leading to a global decline of
