Marine Forests
Their conservation and research
Infant & Junior School, Stanley – Falkland IslandsSCIENCE WEEK - 4th July 2018
Neil Golding & Marina Costa
Marine Forests – what are they?
Marine Forests – what are they?
Two key species of brown seaweed within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large
bladders)• These bladders are known
as pneumatocystspneumato – gas filled
cysts - bladders
© SMSG
Marine Forests – what are they?
Two key species within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large
bladders)• Lessonia (tree kelp)
Marine Forests – what are they?
Two key species within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large
bladders)• Lessonia (tree kelp)•Both known generally as ‘kelp’
Marine Forests – where are they?
Distribution
•Kelp forests occur globally, from N & S America, Africa & Australia. From islands near Antarctica up to Alaska.
• Tend to favour cold temperate waters which are nutrient rich.
© SMSG
Marine Forests – where are they?
Marine Forests – How they grow?
•Unlike other plants, they don’t have roots – have a ‘holdfast’
• Use sunlight to produce food
Photosynthesis
• All nutrients come from water
• Giant kelp can grow >50m long –twice as long as a blue whale
• It can grow as fast as nearly one metre per day
One of the most productive ecosystems on the planet
Marine Forests – Reproduction
• Adult plants release spores.
• Grow into tiny male and female plants.
• These produce sperm or eggs.
• After fertilization, mature plants develop.
• Giant kelp can live 7 years.
• Forms raft that can drift 1000’s of miles in Southern Ocean.
The kelp forest off Cape Pembroke
The ecological role of kelp
Lessonia
Durvillaea
Kelp generates habitat
complexity
Kelp provides shelter and
habitat for many species
© SMSG
@SMSG
@SMSG
@SMSG@SMSG
@SMSG
@SMSG@SMSG
© SMSG
High productivity and turnover of
kelp…
puts many nutrients into
system
@SMSG
The greenhouse
effect
Increases the temperature on
Earth
Climate changes
Kelp stores and remove carbon
from the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide
Photosynthesis
sugar
nutrients
Carbon dioxide
Kelp forest
carbon storage of kelp forests
equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions
from 3 to 6 million cars Dead kelp buried
Floating kelp
Air bladder burst
Air bladder
Sinking kelp
Dead kelp buried
Kelp dampen wave action
reducing coastal erosion
Marine Forests – Human UsesAlginic acid is extracted from brown seaweed such as Macrocystis. It is
used in hundreds of products.
EmulsifyingEmulsion paint
Polish
Ice-cream
ThickeningToothpaste
Shampoo
Hand cream
Gelling & BindingJelly
Tablets
Dental impressions
Wound dressings
Film formingSausage casings
Washable wallpaper
Marine Forests – Human Uses
Bull kelp, Durvillea antarctica, is harvested for food in Chile and sold as cochoyuyo. It is boiled and eaten with potatoes!
Threats to Kelp Forest
Storms
Natural events…
but climate changes are intensifying
extreme weather events
Over harvesting
Overgrazing
Sea urchins are“herbivores” and
feed on kelp
Sea otters
Marine pollution and water
clarity
Climate changeson top of other threats
Warm ocean temperatures, a sea star disease outbreak, and a boom in urchin populations decimated several major kelp beds in northern California between 2008 and 2014
QUIZ TIME
Quiz time …..
Q1 – What length can giant kelp grow to?
(a) 1 metre
(b) Up to 5 metres
(c) more than 50 metres
(d) Over 500 metres
Quiz time …..
Q2 – How many species of seaweed (red, green and brown) are there in the world?
(a) 120 species(b) 1,200 species(c) more than 12,000 species(d) more than 120,000 species
Quiz time …..
Q3 – Can you name three things that can be made from a substance extracted from giant kelp?
Q4 – How does giant kelp make sure its blades/leaves are near the sunlight in the surface waters?
Quiz time …..
Q5 – How do you think our marine forests benefit the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands?
…..and now the answers….
Quiz time …..
Q1 – What length can giant kelp grow to?
(a) 1 metre
(b) Up to 5 metres
(c) more than 50 metres
(d) Over 500 metres
Quiz time …..
Q2 – How many species of seaweed (red, green and brown) are there in the world?
(a) 120 species(b) 1,200 species(c) more than 12,000 species(d) more than 120,000 species
Marine Forests – Human UsesAlginic acid is extracted from brown seaweed such as Macrocystis. It is
used in hundreds of products.
EmulsifyingEmulsion paint
Polish
Ice-cream
ThickeningToothpaste
Shampoo
Hand cream
Gelling & BindingJelly
Tablets
Dental impressions
Wound dressings
Film formingSausage casings
Washable wallpaper
Q3 – Can you name three things that can be made from a substance extracted from giant kelp?
Quiz time …..
Q4 – How does giant kelp make sure its blades/leaves are near the sunlight in the surface waters?
Gas-filled bladders called pneumatocysts
Quiz time …..
Q5 – How do you think our marine forests benefit the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands?
SAERI Research Projects
Dolphins of the KelpData priorities for Falkland’s inshore cetaceans
Mapping the coastal margins of the Falklands & South
Georgia
DPLUS065 Coastal Mapping Project – Grant aided by the Darwin Initiative through UK Government funding
Satellite images courtesy of Digital Globe Foundation
#SouthAtlanticCoastalMapping
Building foundations to monitor and conserve Falklands marine forest habitats
What can we do?
Care and be aware!
Spread knowledge!
i.e. adopt code of conduct when at sea
Promote sustainable usage!
Be a responsible consumer!
Speak aloud:
your opinion is important!
Acknowledgements
Dolphins of the KelpData priorities for Falkland’s inshore cetaceans
Mapping the coastal margins of the Falklands & South
Georgia
DPLUS065 Coastal Mapping Project – Grant aided by the Darwin Initiative through UK Government funding
Satellite images courtesy of Digital Globe Foundation
#SouthAtlanticCoastalMapping
Photographs courtesy of Shallow Marine Surveys Group
The End
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