Giant Kelp ForeSt Alaska;Marine
Giant Kelp Forest
Specified name:Macrocystis pyrifera
The ecosystem we will be looking at is the Giant Kelp Forest.
History:
The Giant Kelp forest is magnificent forest located in Alaska and along the west coast of North America. They provide food and shelter to thousands of animals and consist of kelp that grows 18 inches per day. Like terrestial forest they also experience seasonal changes.
Map of my Ecosystem.
Different plants and animals live through out the Giant Kelp Forest. It can be divided into many groups Detritus,mammals, Fish , Algae , Giant kelp itself , etc
From the Detritus
Mammals
Birds of Prey
Kelp Fish
Algae
PLANKTON AND DECOMPOSERS
While the diversity of plants and animals in giant kelp forests is large, little is known about the plankton and decomposers in the water. Phytoplankton reduce water clarity within kelp forests Because plankton growth is often stimulated by increased nutrients, these organisms may be particularly abundant around sewer outfall. Another source of plankton would be Zooplankton,Zoo plankton are located near shore. Zoo plankton species can also be found in kelp forests various times. Holoplanktonic species can be an important source of food for some kelp forest fishes.
Individual species can Include the most Popular Species of the Kelp Forest
Giant Kelp
Diet :
(Plants produce there own energy source through a process called photosynthesis) A process in which the plants convert light energy into carbohydrate molecules.
Size
Giant kelp can grow all the way from 100 ft - 175 feet under ideal conditions
Sea urchines
Diet : Giant Kelp
abalones
Diet : Marine algae
Sea otters
Diet : Sea Urchins
The food chain:
Specialists species include sea urchins which feed off of kelp. Another Specialist species involved in the environment of the the giant kelp forest would be the sea otter and giant sea kelp.Some Generalist species that revolve around the giant kelp forest include larger mammals such as whales , sea lions, and different species of fish & Birds of prey.
No One has put anything on a full example of the diversity and richness of the giant kelp forest the best information remains on the Food chain and web of animals that pray among st each other.
Interspecific Competition
INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION Is divided among Sea otters and Sea lions over the resource of sea urchins.While sea urchins use resource partitioning explained below
Predation
Parasitism
Bacteria Fungi are the #1 parasites in this ecosystem.
d. Mutualism
Mutualism includes the Moray Eel and Red Rock Shrimp
Red rock shrimp cluster in groups on the rocky bottom of the kelp forest and provide cleaning stations for other species such as garibaldi and spiny lobsters. But they have a special, symbiotic relationship with the California moray eel. These shrimp often live in the same crevice as their partner eel. The shrimp rid the moray of dead skin and parasites. In return, the eel provides the shrimp with protection from predators.
e. Commensalism
Commesalism includes the Gumboot Chitons and Scale Worms
Gumboot Chitons & Scale Worms serve a commensal relationship. While the Chitons shares with scale worms and other creatures. Gumboot chitons have armor-like segments covering their gills. Their gill space lurk red-banded, red, and pale yellow scale worms, dodging predator The chiton gains no benefits and may act indirectly commensal to coralline algae -- "by eating their cousins. "
- According to: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292031390_Resource_partitioning_by_four_species_of_sea_urchins_in_giant_kelp_forest_Macrocystis_pyrifera_at_Puerto_Toro_Navarino_Island
Sea Urchins divide up by type in order to establish which can feed on the specific part of the kelp forest.
K-Selected vs R-Selected
Sea otters and large mammals are the k-selected species in my ecosystem while there are no found examples of r -selected species of the giant kelp forest the best assumption would be fish and smaller creatures such as sea urchins and bacteria
- A good example of a crash in the Giant kelp forest is the Case Study: Southern Sea otters: are they back from the brink of extinction? In the article we analyzed a crash
- No evidence suggests that the giant kelp forest ever undergoes primary or secondary succession
The Biome is an Ocean forest.
It is a Salt Water System
Population ?
The Giant kelp forest is in a stable population currently but did undergo overgrazing when they killed of the sea otters for their furs and to obtain resources in the 1900's. When this happened Sea Urchins degraded kelp forest rapidly. This caused the bleak possibility of extinction for Sea IOtters, Sea Urchins and Giant Kelp which would have killed the ecosystem as a whole.
Kelp forests maintain their vertical structure in a water column using small gas bladders called pneumatocysts.The water column that makes kelp forests such an attractive habitat, both as a refuge from ocean predators and as a source of food.
Some issues that consist in the giant kelp forest include Heavy storms destr such as the storms in southern california in the year 2005-2007 cited in california's coastal alliance: Southern California Giant Kelp Restoration Project. Another issue that happened in the Giant kelp Forest is the deg ration of kelp by sea urchins in the 1900's as observed in the case study: Southern Sea otters are they back from the brink of extinction.
Studying & Maintaining the Sysem?
organization's that works to improve giant kelp forest and work with them would include Monterrey aquarium that work in maintaining its own giant kelp.An organization in southern California that works to preserve giant kelp forest is the California Coast Keeper Alliance which works on educating the public, monitoring kelp fores, and restoring giant kelp forest where they historically grew.
As Shown in the Case Study mentioned before some things we can do is Stop hunting the Sea otter population. We can keep up the work of the California Keeper Alliance in monitoring the Giant Kelp Forest and we could educate the public on keeping the kelp forest safe so the animals that live within it can be safe and not go extinct.
Bibliography
http://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/education/kelp-forest-background.html
http://www.fishtech.com/facts.html
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-experiences/exhibits/kelp-forest
http://www.piscoweb.org/research/kelp-forests
http://www.britannica.com/science/r-selected-species
"Southern California Giant Kelp Restoration Project.
Case Study: Southern Sea Otter : Are They back from the Brink of Extinction.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292031390_Resource_partitioning_by_four_species_of_sea_urchins_in_giant_kelp_forest_Macrocystis_pyrifera_at_Puerto_Toro_Navarino_Island
http://classroom.synonym.com/symbiotic-relationships-kelp-forest-ecosystem-7273.html
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/symbiotic-relationships-kelp-forest-ecosystem-38476.html