100 YEARS OF RESEARCH ON KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN CALIFORNIA AND BAJA CALIFORNIA SHORES

RAMÍREZ-VALDEZ, ARTURO; ABURTO-OROPEZA, OCTAVIO; JOHNSON, ANDREW F. ; DAYTON, PAUL K. ; BAGUR, MARIA; PARNELL, EDWARD

Monterey

Congreso; 100th Anniversary Western Society of Naturalists; 2016

Western Society of Naturalists

Off the coast of California and Baja California, giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera forms dense forests that support high levels of species diversity and productivity in the region. Kelp forests have provided ecosystem services to human civilizations for millennia as the earliest people relied on them for food. European observations of kelp forests began with Cabrillo and some were carefully mapped in the early 1900's, at which time industrial harvesting began. Since that time, research on kelp forest ecology has expanded greatly. In this work, we construct a timeline that highlights the events, research institutions and innovations over the past hundred years that have had the mostsignificant impact on the number and kind of kelp forest research publications. Research focusing on kelp forest ecosystems in California dates back to the 1940's, while for Baja California research began three decades later. A comprehensive meta-analysis of 236 peer-reviewed papers revealed that there has been an increased number of publications since the early 1970's. Geographic visualization of data available since 1970 showed that a disparity in sampling efforts exists between regions north and south of the US-Mexico border, including sites with long-termdata. We found more than 40 times more peer-reviewed papers on kelp forest ecosystem topics in California than in Baja California. Our study also allowed us to identify information gaps and highlight the seminal studies that have helped to shape our current understanding of kelp forest ecosystems.