ArticleEcological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America2022
Microclimate predicts kelp forest extinction in the face of direct and indirect marine heatwave effects.
Article in Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Widespread ecological responses and cascading effects of the 2021 western North American heatwave.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Pooled it
- Seaweed carbon removal cannot keep up with climate-driven loss.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Historical data reveal extirpation of foundation species and kelp forest community deborealization in a coastal hotspot.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Article
- Environmental Drivers of Genetic Structure and Local Adaptation in a Marine Foundation Species.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Marine heatwave and keystone predator loss drive broad-scale decline and hinder recovery of a rocky intertidal kelp.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Article
- Evidence of a genomic basis for growth rate variation in a natural kelp population.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Abiotic stress destabilizes the bacterial community of sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima (Phaeophyceae).Journal of phycology · 2025Article
- Strong genetic differentiation and low genetic diversity in a habitat-forming fucoid seaweed (Cystophora racemosa) across 850 km of its range.Journal of phycology · 2025Article
- A simple and effective protocol for cryopreservation of germplasm of the bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana (Phaeophyceae).Journal of phycology · 2025Article
- Dynamic and context-dependent keystone species effects in kelp forests.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Warming Seawater Temperature and Nutrient Depletion Alters Microbial Community Composition on a Foundational Canopy Kelp Species.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Asynchronous shifts in the demographics of two wave-swept kelp species (Laminariales) after nearly four decades.Journal of phycology · 2025Article
- Geographic variability of floating kelp recovery after a marine heatwave event in the Salish Sea and adjacent open coast.PloS one · 2025Article
- A blueprint for national assessments of the blue carbon capacity of kelp forests applied to Canada's coastline.npj ocean sustainability · 2025Article
- Potential backfiring effects of Marine Protected Areas on kelp herbivory.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of Abscisic Acid on the Physiological and Biochemical Responses ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Significant challenges to the sustainability of the California coast considering climate change.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Victim of changes? Marine macroalgae in a changing world.Annals of botany · 2024Review
- A century of canopy kelp persistence and recovery in the Gulf of Alaska.Annals of botany · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Marine heatwaves threaten the persistence of kelp forests globally. However, the observed responses of kelp forests to these events have been highly variable on local scales. Here, we synthesize distribution data from an environmentally diverse region to examine spatial patterns of canopy kelp persistence through an unprecedented marine heatwave. We show that, although often overlooked, temperature variation occurring at fine spatial scales (i.e., a few kilometers or less) can be a critical driver of kelp forest persistence during these events. Specifically, though kelp forests nearly all persisted toward the cool outer coast, inshore areas were >3°C warmer at the surface and experienced extensive kelp loss. Although temperatures remained cool at depths below the thermocline, kelp persistence in these thermal refugia was strongly constrained by biotic interactions, specifically urchin populations that increased during the heatwave and drove transitions to urchin barrens in deeper rocky habitat. Urchins were, however, largely absent from mixed sand and cobble benthos, leading to an unexpected association between bottom substrate and kelp forest persistence at inshore sites with warm surface waters. Our findings demonstrate both that warm microclimates increase the risk of habitat loss during marine heatwaves and that biotic interactions modified by these events will modulate the capacity of cool microclimates to serve as thermal refugia.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.