Event Title
The Kelp Rescue Initiative: Using science to restore resilient kelp forest ecosystems on B.C.’s coasts.
Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Kelp forests cover 36% of the world’s coastlines where they promote biodiversity, provide food and habitat for commercially valuable species, and drive coastal carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling. Across B.C.’s geographically-complex coastlines—including the roughly 10,000 km of linear shoreline in the Salish Sea alone—gradual kelp declines have accelerated in recent years in many areas. Left unchecked, these widespread and accelerating losses along critical salmon migration routes are likely to have far-reaching economic and ecological impacts. Here I describe a new initiative based out of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre launched with the purpose of translating scientific knowledge into impactful solutions for scalable kelp forest restoration. The immediate goals of the Kelp Rescue Initiative are to: i) understand fine-scale patterns of population structure and connectivity among kelp forests around Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea, ii) assess the genetic diversity and extent of local adaptation of remnant populations along natural climatic gradients, and iii) act quickly and collaboratively to restore kelp forests with resilient lineages physiologically capable of surviving an increasingly stressful future. These issues affect everyone, and are too big and too urgent to be solved by any lab or group on its own. To scale up these efforts, we must collaborate widely across disciplines. In this talk I will present a roadmap to improve the success of restoration efforts by incorporating diverse tools such as dynamical earth systems modeling, oceanography, species distribution modeling, modern genomic techniques, expansive remote sensing and in-situ observations, community science, and field and laboratory experimentation.
Session Title
Kelp Restoration & Climate Change
Conference Track
SSE9: Nearshore
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-traditionals-66
Start Date
26-4-2022 9:45 AM
End Date
26-4-2022 11:15 AM
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
The Kelp Rescue Initiative: Using science to restore resilient kelp forest ecosystems on B.C.’s coasts.
Kelp forests cover 36% of the world’s coastlines where they promote biodiversity, provide food and habitat for commercially valuable species, and drive coastal carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling. Across B.C.’s geographically-complex coastlines—including the roughly 10,000 km of linear shoreline in the Salish Sea alone—gradual kelp declines have accelerated in recent years in many areas. Left unchecked, these widespread and accelerating losses along critical salmon migration routes are likely to have far-reaching economic and ecological impacts. Here I describe a new initiative based out of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre launched with the purpose of translating scientific knowledge into impactful solutions for scalable kelp forest restoration. The immediate goals of the Kelp Rescue Initiative are to: i) understand fine-scale patterns of population structure and connectivity among kelp forests around Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea, ii) assess the genetic diversity and extent of local adaptation of remnant populations along natural climatic gradients, and iii) act quickly and collaboratively to restore kelp forests with resilient lineages physiologically capable of surviving an increasingly stressful future. These issues affect everyone, and are too big and too urgent to be solved by any lab or group on its own. To scale up these efforts, we must collaborate widely across disciplines. In this talk I will present a roadmap to improve the success of restoration efforts by incorporating diverse tools such as dynamical earth systems modeling, oceanography, species distribution modeling, modern genomic techniques, expansive remote sensing and in-situ observations, community science, and field and laboratory experimentation.
