Marine Forests

Their conservation and research

Infant & Junior School, Stanley – Falkland IslandsSCIENCE WEEK - 4th July 2018

Neil Golding & Marina Costa

Marine Forests – what are they?

Marine Forests – what are they?

Two key species of brown seaweed within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large

bladders)• These bladders are known

as pneumatocystspneumato – gas filled

cysts - bladders

© SMSG

Marine Forests – what are they?

Two key species within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large

bladders)• Lessonia (tree kelp)

Marine Forests – what are they?

Two key species within the Falklands:•Macrocystis (latin for large

bladders)• Lessonia (tree kelp)•Both known generally as ‘kelp’

Marine Forests – where are they?

Distribution

•Kelp forests occur globally, from N & S America, Africa & Australia. From islands near Antarctica up to Alaska.

• Tend to favour cold temperate waters which are nutrient rich.

© SMSG

Marine Forests – where are they?

Marine Forests – How they grow?

•Unlike other plants, they don’t have roots – have a ‘holdfast’

• Use sunlight to produce food

Photosynthesis

• All nutrients come from water

• Giant kelp can grow >50m long –twice as long as a blue whale

• It can grow as fast as nearly one metre per day

One of the most productive ecosystems on the planet

Marine Forests – Reproduction

• Adult plants release spores.

• Grow into tiny male and female plants.

• These produce sperm or eggs.

• After fertilization, mature plants develop.

• Giant kelp can live 7 years.

• Forms raft that can drift 1000’s of miles in Southern Ocean.

The kelp forest off Cape Pembroke

The ecological role of kelp

Lessonia

Durvillaea

Kelp generates habitat

complexity

Kelp provides shelter and

habitat for many species

© SMSG

@SMSG

@SMSG

@SMSG@SMSG

@SMSG

@SMSG@SMSG

© SMSG

High productivity and turnover of

kelp…

puts many nutrients into

system

@SMSG

The greenhouse

effect

Increases the temperature on

Earth

Climate changes

Kelp stores and remove carbon

from the atmosphere

Carbon dioxide

Photosynthesis

sugar

nutrients

Carbon dioxide

Kelp forest

carbon storage of kelp forests

equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions

from 3 to 6 million cars Dead kelp buried

Floating kelp

Air bladder burst

Air bladder

Sinking kelp

Dead kelp buried

Kelp dampen wave action

reducing coastal erosion

Marine Forests – Human UsesAlginic acid is extracted from brown seaweed such as Macrocystis. It is

used in hundreds of products.

EmulsifyingEmulsion paint

Polish

Ice-cream

ThickeningToothpaste

Shampoo

Hand cream

Gelling & BindingJelly

Tablets

Dental impressions

Wound dressings

Film formingSausage casings

Washable wallpaper

Marine Forests – Human Uses

Bull kelp, Durvillea antarctica, is harvested for food in Chile and sold as cochoyuyo. It is boiled and eaten with potatoes!

Threats to Kelp Forest

Storms

Natural events…

but climate changes are intensifying

extreme weather events

Over harvesting

Overgrazing

Sea urchins are“herbivores” and

feed on kelp

Sea otters

Marine pollution and water

clarity

Climate changeson top of other threats

Warm ocean temperatures, a sea star disease outbreak, and a boom in urchin populations decimated several major kelp beds in northern California between 2008 and 2014

QUIZ TIME

Quiz time …..

Q1 – What length can giant kelp grow to?

(a) 1 metre

(b) Up to 5 metres

(c) more than 50 metres

(d) Over 500 metres

Quiz time …..

Q2 – How many species of seaweed (red, green and brown) are there in the world?

(a) 120 species(b) 1,200 species(c) more than 12,000 species(d) more than 120,000 species

Quiz time …..

Q3 – Can you name three things that can be made from a substance extracted from giant kelp?

Q4 – How does giant kelp make sure its blades/leaves are near the sunlight in the surface waters?

Quiz time …..

Q5 – How do you think our marine forests benefit the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands?

…..and now the answers….

Quiz time …..

Q1 – What length can giant kelp grow to?

(a) 1 metre

(b) Up to 5 metres

(c) more than 50 metres

(d) Over 500 metres

Quiz time …..

Q2 – How many species of seaweed (red, green and brown) are there in the world?

(a) 120 species(b) 1,200 species(c) more than 12,000 species(d) more than 120,000 species

Marine Forests – Human UsesAlginic acid is extracted from brown seaweed such as Macrocystis. It is

used in hundreds of products.

EmulsifyingEmulsion paint

Polish

Ice-cream

ThickeningToothpaste

Shampoo

Hand cream

Gelling & BindingJelly

Tablets

Dental impressions

Wound dressings

Film formingSausage casings

Washable wallpaper

Q3 – Can you name three things that can be made from a substance extracted from giant kelp?

Quiz time …..

Q4 – How does giant kelp make sure its blades/leaves are near the sunlight in the surface waters?

Gas-filled bladders called pneumatocysts

Quiz time …..

Q5 – How do you think our marine forests benefit the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands?

SAERI Research Projects

Dolphins of the KelpData priorities for Falkland’s inshore cetaceans

Mapping the coastal margins of the Falklands & South

Georgia

DPLUS065 Coastal Mapping Project – Grant aided by the Darwin Initiative through UK Government funding

Satellite images courtesy of Digital Globe Foundation

#SouthAtlanticCoastalMapping

Building foundations to monitor and conserve Falklands marine forest habitats

What can we do?

Care and be aware!

Spread knowledge!

i.e. adopt code of conduct when at sea

Promote sustainable usage!

Be a responsible consumer!

Speak aloud:

your opinion is important!

Acknowledgements

Dolphins of the KelpData priorities for Falkland’s inshore cetaceans

Mapping the coastal margins of the Falklands & South

Georgia

DPLUS065 Coastal Mapping Project – Grant aided by the Darwin Initiative through UK Government funding

Satellite images courtesy of Digital Globe Foundation

#SouthAtlanticCoastalMapping

Photographs courtesy of Shallow Marine Surveys Group

The End