Why are kelp forests important?

Asked by: Amy Jordan

Kelp forests provide food, nursery areas, and shelter—including protection from predators and storms—for hundreds of commercially and recreationally important fish species as well as West Coast marine wildlife.

What is the importance of kelp forests to climate change?

The role of kelp forests in climate regulation
Marine macroalgae, such as kelps, play an important role in reducing the effects of climate change. Like plants on land, kelps photosynthesise to grow, absorbing carbon dioxide in the process.

What are the most important features of a kelp forest?

They grow in dense groupings much like a forest on land. These underwater towers of kelp provide food and shelter for thousands of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammal species. Kelp forests harbor a greater variety and higher diversity of plants and animals than almost any other ocean community.

Why is kelp good for the environment?

Kelp, in particular, has the potential to greatly reduce ocean acidification. Naturally occurring in cold, coastal marine waters, kelp grows quickly without the need for fertilizer, and it takes up carbon dioxide—which can exacerbate climate change—as well as excess nitrogen and phosphorus.

What would happen without kelp forests?

These negative effects reach from the ocean to the shore. Red abalone have been severely impacted by the loss of kelp and thus lack of food, causing the abalone fishery to close until at least 2021. Sea birds and marine mammals are also feeling the effects.

Why are kelp forests important economically?

Economic Importance
Currently kelp is harvested in a more sustainable manner by removing only the upper portion of the canopy. The primary resource taken is algin, a product used as a gelling agent in foods, pharmaceuticals, and water and fireproofing fabrics.

What is the benefit of kelp?

Kelp is high in antioxidants, including carotenoids and flavonoids, which help fight against disease-causing free radicals. Antioxidant minerals, such as manganese and zinc, help combat oxidative stress and may help protect cardiovascular health and prevent cancer.

How do kelp forests help humans?

Kelp forests provide food, nursery areas, and shelter—including protection from predators and storms—for hundreds of commercially and recreationally important fish species as well as West Coast marine wildlife.

How do kelp forests affect the environment?

Through photosynthesis, kelp forests boost oxygen levels in the ocean while helping protect the coast from erosion by reducing the speed and size of waves. (See beautiful photos of kelp gardens around the world.) Kelp forests don’t just play a fundamental role in curbing climate change.

How much oxygen do kelp forests produce?

The golden brown blades are like leaves, containing the chlorophyll for photosynthesis. Marine algae are very important to all organisms on earth, as they produce 70 percent to 80 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Giant kelp acts as the ecosystem engineer in the underwater forests off our coast.

Does kelp clean the ocean?

They store carbon in their photosynthesising fronds, and their wave-buffering bodies are the surest defence some coastlines have against violent storms. They also clean up our waste: kelps can rapidly absorb nutrient pollution caused by fertilizers running off from farmland into the sea.

What provides the most oxygen on Earth?

Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton — drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize.