Journal
MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH
Volume 67, Issue 1, Pages 65-74Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/MF14155
Keywords
benthic communities; disturbance ecology; Laminariales; macroalgae; physical disturbance; subtidal reefs
Funding
- Independent Research Fellowship - Natural Environment Research Council of the UK [NE/K008439/1]
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/K008439/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- NERC [NE/K008439/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Physical disturbance through wave action is a major determinant of kelp forest structure. The North-east Atlantic storm season of 2013-14 was unusually severe; the south coast of the UK was subjected to 6 of the 12 most intense storms recorded in the past 5 years. Inshore significant wave heights and periods exceeded 7 m and 13 s with two storms classified as '1-in-30 year' events. We examined the impacts of the storm season on kelp canopies at three study sites. Monospecific canopies comprising Laminaria hyperborea were unaffected by storm disturbance. However, at one study site a mixed canopy comprising Laminaria ochroleuca, Saccharina latissima and L. hyperborea was significantly altered by the storms, due to decreased abundances of the former two species. Quantification of freshly severed stipes suggested that the 'warm water' kelp L. ochroleuca was more susceptible to storm damage than L. hyperborea. Overall, kelp canopies were highly resistant to storm disturbance because of the low vulnerability of L. hyperborea to intense wave action. However, if climate-driven shifts in kelp species distributions result in more mixed canopies, as predicted, then resistance to storm disturbance may be eroded.
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