The Perfect Storm: Multiple Stressors Push Kelp Forest Beyond Tipping Point (FRIENDS ONLY)
Northern California’s bull kelp forests are an iconic and invaluable ecosystem, but they’ve been reduced to an all-time low due to a “perfect storm” of large-scale climate change impacts. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 20 year kelp forest monitoring program led by Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett has documented the impacts of a massive marine heat wave and purple sea urchin population explosion on the kelp forest ecosystem including the mass mortality of abalone populations in northern California.