Threats and knowledge gaps for ecosystem services provided by kelp forests: a northeast Atlantic perspective Dan A. Smale, Michael T. Burrows, Pippa Moore, Nessa O’Connor, & Stephen J. Hawkins Abstract: Kelp forests along temperate and polar coastlines represent some of most diverse and productive habitats on the Earth. Here, we synthesize information from >60 years […]
It seems that the subtidal rocky environment of Scotland is to be exposed to the destructive processes of kelp harvesting, and unlike a recent Irish proposal at least there is some semblance of environmental management in the form of a scoping report. The ‘consultation’ on this is now closed but I wonder why my Scottish […]
Seán Lynch [seanlynch@umail.ucc.ie] I would like to bring Ireland’s “Our Oceans Wealth” strategy into question i.e. the undebated sale of our natural assets. In Bantry Bay, West Co. Cork which is said to have the cleanest coastal waters in Ireland, a licence has been issued to industrially harvest 1,860 acres of native kelp forest with […]
Wide-scale disruption from warming oceans is increasing, but they could change our understanding of the climate. This link rich article from the Guardian illustrates how the range of major habitats, corals, kelp forests and mangroves are being directly affected by major warming events. Mobile species and fish are no less susceptible. These events are providing […]
Great swathes of the temperate kelp forests on Western Australia’s reefs that underpin tourism and fisheries industries worth $10 billion annually are gone. Key points: The ocean off Western Australia is warming twice as fast as the global average Since 2000, nearly 1000 square kilometres of kelp forest have been lost from the area These […]