Journal
ECOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 24, Issue 10, Pages 2192-2206Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/ele.13849
Keywords
canopy; competition; disturbance; environmental gradient; habitat quality; kelp forest; long-term experiment; net primary productivity; shading; understory
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Funding
- U.S. National Science Foundation
- Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research Project (SBC LTER) [OCE-2023555]
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The study found that habitat quality can mediate the effects of intensified disturbances on kelp forest net primary productivity, with understory macroalgae partially compensating for canopy NPP losses, and this effect magnifying with increasing habitat quality.
Disturbances often disproportionately impact different vegetation layers in forests and other vertically stratified ecosystems, shaping community structure and ecosystem function. However, disturbance-driven changes may be mediated by environmental conditions that affect habitat quality and species interactions. In a decade-long field experiment, we tested how kelp forest net primary productivity (NPP) responds to repeated canopy loss along a gradient in grazing and substrate suitability. We discovered that habitat quality can mediate the effects of intensified disturbance on canopy and understory NPP. Experimental annual and quarterly disturbances suppressed total macroalgal NPP, but effects were strongest in high-quality habitats that supported dense kelp canopies that were removed by disturbance. Understory macroalgae partly compensated for canopy NPP losses and this effect magnified with increasing habitat quality. Disturbance-driven increases in understory NPP were still rising after 5-10 years of disturbance, demonstrating the value of long-term experimentation for understanding ecosystem responses to changing disturbance regimes.
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