Download Kelp Beds: Importance and Dynamics By

Kelp Beds: Importance
and Dynamics
By: Tanay Tailor
Structure/Dynamics
• Kelp Beds: areas of high
•
•
densities of brown
macroalgae (Kelp).
Need a hard substrate to
attach to, high # of
nutrients, and light.
Kelp Beds are primarily in
temperate and arctic
waters.
Types of Kelp Beds
Canopy Kelps, largest
species
Stipitate Kelps;
grow very
densely.
Prostrate
Kelps, lie at
the bottom of
the ocean.
Dynamics
• The layout of the Kelp
Beds is very similar to an
underground forest. The
Canopy Kelps blocks
sunlight from coming
through. The dense
Stipitate Kelps darkens
the middle.
• Thus, the Prostrate Kelps
•
get almost no light. Living
Organisms must adapt to
fulfill their needs of food
in this environment.
For example, organisms
at the bottom cannot be
photoautotrophs because
of the lack of light.
Importance/Dynamics
• Kelp beds exhibit simple
Trophic Ecology.
• 1) Kelp Beds form in waters
with a high amount of
nutrients.
• 2) This supports the
Herbivores.
• 3) Now, Consumers can be
supported by the herbivores.
• The Kelp Beds are the starting
point of life in parts of the
ocean.
• Without it, the ecosystem
could not support the large
diversity of animals that live in
it because the food chain is
broken.
So eat your spinach!
l0lz .
Patch Dynamics…
• Some areas of Kelp forests are influenced by the
•
•
environment.
Water Pollution (eutrophication), underwater storms, El
Nino-oscillation patterns (nutrient depletion), and
overfishing harms the kelp beds.
Kelp beds also offer many environmental services such
as species diversity and can allow people to fish.
Review!
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•
•
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What is a stipitate kelp?
What layout are Kelp Beds similar to?
Why is kelp important for the organisms that live near it?
What is a photoautotroph?
What type of water are kelp beds found in?
List the three things a Kelp Bed needs to form?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRVB
EaMo34
Answers
• Kelps that grow very densely.
• Tropical forest.
• It supports the food chain because it is the main
•
•
•
food for the herbivores, which sustains other
organisms too.
Organism that makes food from light by itself.
Temperate and Arctic
Hard substrate, lots of nutrients, and light.