ArticleNature communications2023
The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 71 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Kelp forests versus urchin barrens: a comparison of ecosystem functions and services provided by two alternative stable marine habitats.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Global dispersal of macroalgae-derived recalcitrant DOC may substantially contribute to deep-ocean carbon storage.Science advances · 2026Article
- Unprecedented Warming and Increased Herbivory Drive Collapse of Japan's Kelp Forests.Global change biology · 2026Article
- Brown algae produce hydrocarbons via fatty acid photodecarboxylase-dependent and fatty acid photodecarboxylase-independent pathways.Plant physiology · 2026Article
- Spore priming by coastal upwelling in the intertidal kelp Lessonia spicata.Journal of phycology · 2026Article
- Complete organellar genomes of Cystophora brownii: Insights into mitochondrial and plastid structure and evolution in brown algae.Journal of phycology · 2026Article
- Spatial inference of ancestor locations suggests northern refugia for canopy-forming kelps in the Pacific Northwest.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Incorporating Population Genomic Perspectives Into Kelp Conservation and Aquaculture in the Pacific Northwest.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Demography and Localized Reservoirs of Diversity Underlie Global Divergence in the Giant Kelp Macrocystis pyrifera.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Insights from farming Macrocystis pyrifera offshore: phenotypic analysis, genome-wide association studies, genomic selection.Heredity · 2026Article
- Two Australian genome assemblies expand the genomic blueprint of giant kelp.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Structure of giant kelp Photosystem I-FCP uncovers drivers of antenna evolution across the red lineage.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Diel and tidal rhythms drive fish acoustic communities in a European kelp forest.BMC ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- From kelp forests to turf reefs: Patterns, drivers, and impacts to functional diversity.Ecology · 2026Article
- Decoding a Microbial Community for Healthy Kelp: 403 MAGs from the World's Largest Kelp Farming Region.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Characterising ecosystem service provision by two morphologically distinct kelp species (Laminaria hyperborea and Saccharina latissima) and the biophysical drivers shaping these services: a systematic map protocol.Environmental evidence · 2026Article
- 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
- Contrasting patterns of population structure in two habitat-forming kelp species in southeastern Australia.Journal of phycology · 2026Article
- Oceanographic connectivity strongly restricts future range expansions of critical marine forest species.npj biodiversity · 2026Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
While marine kelp forests have provided valuable ecosystem services for millennia, the global ecological and economic value of those services is largely unresolved. Kelp forests are diminishing in many regions worldwide, and efforts to manage these ecosystems are hindered without accurate estimates of the value of the services that kelp forests provide to human societies. Here, we present a global estimate of the ecological and economic potential of three key ecosystem services - fisheries production, nutrient cycling, and carbon removal provided by six major forest forming kelp genera (Ecklonia, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, Nereocystis, and Saccharina). Each of these genera creates a potential value of between $64,400 and $147,100/hectare each year. Collectively, they generate between $465 and $562 billion/year worldwide, with an average of $500 billion. These values are primarily driven by fisheries production (mean $29,900, 904 Kg/Ha/year) and nitrogen removal ($73,800, 657 Kg N/Ha/year), though kelp forests are also estimated to sequester 4.91 megatons of carbon from the atmosphere/year highlighting their potential as blue carbon systems for climate change mitigation. These findings highlight the ecological and economic value of kelp forests to society and will facilitate better informed marine management and conservation decisions.
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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.