The role of kelp species as biogenic habitat formers in coastal marine ecosystems

TLDR: Biodiversity patterns associated with kelp holdfasts, stipes and blades are examined, as well as the wider understorey habitat, and generality between kelp species and biogeographic regions are searched for.

About: This article is published in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.The article was published on 2017-07-01 and is currently open access. It has received 321 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Kelp forest & Kelp.

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Table 1: Summary data from published studies explicitly examining the structure and diversity of kelp-associated assemblages. * indicates the pooled

Table 2. Estimates of the quantity of biogenic habitat provided by kelp species at 2 contrasting study sites near Plymouth, UK. Data are sourced from Arnold et al. (2016), Smale et al. (2015) and unpublished data collected by Teagle and Smale. The approximate area of subtidal rocky reef inhabited by kelps at each study site was conservatively estimated by using a combination of satellite imagery, in situ surveys and bathymetry data. At Firestone Bay, mean values were generated from 5 independent surveys for abundance and 3 sampling events for biogenic habitat metrics. For the Mewstone, mean values for abundance and biogenic habitat structure were generated from 2 independent surveys. Abundance values relate to mature sporophytes only and do not include juvenile plants. Metrics shown are: biomass as wet weight (WW), holdfast living space (HFLS), surface area (SA; total area available for colonisation including stipe and blade) and abundance (AB). Note differences in units with increasing spatial scale.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in this paper?

Here, the authors review and synthesise existing knowledge on the functioning of kelp 20 species as biogenic habitat providers. The authors examine biodiversity patterns associated with kelp 21 holdfasts, stipes and blades, as well as the wider understorey habitat, and search for generality 22