A multi-pronged approach to kelp recovery along California's north coast

Recent, massive loss of kelp forests along the coast of northern California has sparked intense concern and strong impetus to restore this crucial ecosystem. This grant will support the integrated research program focused on solutions. In particular, target approaches for offsetting consequences of three key correlates of the kelp decline, which include 1) anomalously high seawater temperatures that likely induced stress in the canopy-forming bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), 2) a widespread outbreak of the purple urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), the dominant grazer of N. luetkeana, and 3) regional extirpation due to disease of the sunflower seastar (Pycnopodia helianthoides), a key urchin predator. Paralleling these probable causal agents, the proposed work is structured into three experimental arms, complementing them with an accompanying trophic population model.