Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight

The United States and Mexico share the Southern California Bight (SCB) ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific Ocean where marine wildlife and habitats historically have been disturbed by human activities. Within this ecosystem, forests of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera are critical habitats that su...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Guillermo Torres-Moye, Matthew S Edwards, Cira Gabriela Montaño-Moctezuma
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:México
Recursos:Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Repositorio:Redalyc-UABC
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:48028289001
Acesso em linha:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=48028289001
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Ciencias de la Tierra
benthos
Kelp forests
habitat complexity
community structure
Southern California Bight region
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spelling Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California BightGuillermo Torres-MoyeMatthew S EdwardsCira Gabriela Montaño-MoctezumaCiencias de la TierrabenthosKelp forestshabitat complexitycommunity structureSouthern California Bight regionThe United States and Mexico share the Southern California Bight (SCB) ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific Ocean where marine wildlife and habitats historically have been disturbed by human activities. Within this ecosystem, forests of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera are critical habitats that sustain diverse biological assemblages and important fishery species. We studied patterns of temporal and spatial variability within the benthic communities of five transboundary kelp forests in California (USA) and Baja California (Mexico) over a four- year period that included a moderate El Niño event. While the benthic marine communities shared some species, they varied significantly in community structure from each other, and the degree of dissimilarity was not related to the geographic distances among the studied habitats. Rather, species richness was significantly related to local substratum rugosity, suggesting it could be used as a proxy of relative benthic biological diversity. Temporal changes in the benthic assemblages were not consistent across all forests, and contrary to observations made during previous El Niño events in the SCB, the benthic communities did not change significantly following the 2009–2010 El Niño. Such an unexpected community response may be explained by the fact that the 2009–2010 El Niño was linked to the Modoki phenomenon, where warm sea surface temperature is focused in the central equatorial Pacific and not in the eastern Pacific Ocean. We propose that long-term conservation efforts should incorporate this ecological knowledge to support science-based decisions, binational coordination of policies, and coherent management practices including the design of transboundary conservation networks as spatial management tools for the protection, conservation, and/or restoration of the SCB ecosystem.Universidad Autónoma de Baja California2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdf0185-3880https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=48028289001Ciencias Marinas (México) Num.3 Vol.39reponame:Redalyc-UABCinstname:Universidad Autónoma de Baja Californiainstacron:UABCenhttp://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=480Ciencias Marinasinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:redalyc.org:480282890012024-08-23T15:27:04Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
title Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
spellingShingle Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
Guillermo Torres-Moye
Ciencias de la Tierra
benthos
Kelp forests
habitat complexity
community structure
Southern California Bight region
title_short Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
title_full Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
title_fullStr Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
title_full_unstemmed Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
title_sort Benthic community structure in kelp forests from the Southern California Bight
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Guillermo Torres-Moye
Matthew S Edwards
Cira Gabriela Montaño-Moctezuma
author Guillermo Torres-Moye
author_facet Guillermo Torres-Moye
Matthew S Edwards
Cira Gabriela Montaño-Moctezuma
author_role author
author2 Matthew S Edwards
Cira Gabriela Montaño-Moctezuma
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias de la Tierra
benthos
Kelp forests
habitat complexity
community structure
Southern California Bight region
topic Ciencias de la Tierra
benthos
Kelp forests
habitat complexity
community structure
Southern California Bight region
description The United States and Mexico share the Southern California Bight (SCB) ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific Ocean where marine wildlife and habitats historically have been disturbed by human activities. Within this ecosystem, forests of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera are critical habitats that sustain diverse biological assemblages and important fishery species. We studied patterns of temporal and spatial variability within the benthic communities of five transboundary kelp forests in California (USA) and Baja California (Mexico) over a four- year period that included a moderate El Niño event. While the benthic marine communities shared some species, they varied significantly in community structure from each other, and the degree of dissimilarity was not related to the geographic distances among the studied habitats. Rather, species richness was significantly related to local substratum rugosity, suggesting it could be used as a proxy of relative benthic biological diversity. Temporal changes in the benthic assemblages were not consistent across all forests, and contrary to observations made during previous El Niño events in the SCB, the benthic communities did not change significantly following the 2009–2010 El Niño. Such an unexpected community response may be explained by the fact that the 2009–2010 El Niño was linked to the Modoki phenomenon, where warm sea surface temperature is focused in the central equatorial Pacific and not in the eastern Pacific Ocean. We propose that long-term conservation efforts should incorporate this ecological knowledge to support science-based decisions, binational coordination of policies, and coherent management practices including the design of transboundary conservation networks as spatial management tools for the protection, conservation, and/or restoration of the SCB ecosystem.
publishDate 2013
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2013
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 0185-3880
https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=48028289001
identifier_str_mv 0185-3880
url https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=48028289001
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
language_invalid_str_mv en
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=480
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Marinas
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Ciencias Marinas
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Marinas (México) Num.3 Vol.39
reponame:Redalyc-UABC
instname:Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
instacron:UABC
instname_str Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
instacron_str UABC
institution UABC
reponame_str Redalyc-UABC
collection Redalyc-UABC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,811543

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