Miss Emelly Villa1, Dr Kyle Cavanaugh1, Dr Tom Bell1, Dr Jennifer Caselle1, Dr Mark Carr1, Dr Dan Malone1, Dr Katherine Cavanaugh1
1UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, 2UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, 3Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, USA, 4UCSB, Santa Barbara, USA, 5UCSC, Santa Cruz, USA, 6UCSC, Santa Cruz, USA, 7UCLA, Los Angeles, 90037
Kelp forests in California are experiencing a number of stressors, including increased frequency of marine heatwaves and trophic disruptions that have led to high levels of grazing by sea urchins. These factors have contributed to population declines along the California coast. The State of California has a large network of marine protected areas, and this protection may promote resilience of giant kelp by maintaining populations of predators that can keep urchin populations under control. However, the impact of MPAs on kelp forest resilience has not been examined across large scales. This information is particularly important as heatwave events are expected to occur more frequently. Using a long-term dataset of satellite-derived kelp canopy area estimates, we analyzed kelp canopy resilience and resistance to the 2014-2016 marine heatwave inside and outside of marine protected areas. We identified a reference site for each MPA based on the dynamics of kelp abundance before the MPAs were implemented. We then calculated resistance and resilience based on kelp abundance during and after the heatwave as compared to a baseline of kelp canopy biomass during a 10 year pre-heatwave period (2003-2012). In analyzing annual differences, we found evidence of higher resilience inside of MPAs as opposed to the unprotected reference sites. These findings contribute to understanding the dynamics within a protected ecosystem and provide insight about kelp-forest resistance and resilience to temperature anomalies.
Presentation Slides – Emelly Villa
Biography:
Emelly received her B.S in Biology with and Emphasis in Environmental Science and a GIS Minor from Mount Saint Mary’s University of Los Angeles. She was involved in many marine microbiology projects from analyzing water quality along Santa Monica Bay, to looking at the microbial community of kelp blades. At UCLA, she combined her love for marine ecology with her interests in remote sensing techniques to answer coastal ecological questions. For her MA she is investigating marine protected areas and their impact on kelp recover post heat wave events.
