 |
Community Ecologist | Marine Biological Association of the UKKeynote Theme: Global Change and Human ImpactsDan Smale is a community ecologist based at the Marine Biological Association of the UK (Plymouth, UK). His research focuses on understanding how marine ecosystems are responding to human pressures, including the spread of invasive species, decreased coastal water quality, and climate change stressors. Over the past 15 years, Dan has studied kelp forests in Australia, South America, and Europe to better understand their ecological structure and functioning, the ecosystem services they deliver, and their resilience to ocean warming and other environmental changes. His team at the MBA use a range of approaches, including manipulative experiments in both the lab and the field, long-term monitoring and surveys, and modeling techniques, to yield novel insights into kelp forest ecology. Dan’s ultimate goal is to provide robust scientific knowledge to inform management and conservation of these critical ecosystems.
|
Presentation: Stability versus shifts on temperate reefs in the Anthropocene
Rapid environmental change driven by human activities is causing a redistribution of species at a global scale. Kelp forests, which dominate temperate and polar coastlines, are widely considered as highly dynamic ecosystems, exhibiting pronounced temporal variability driven by urchin grazing, storms and marine heatwaves, for example. However, some recent studies have shown long-term stability in kelp forest ecosystems. Here, I draw on evidence from a biogeographic transition zone in the northeast Atlantic to highlight both stability and shifts in kelp populations and communities, in a region faced with rapid ocean warming. Using historical data (up to ~80 years old) combined with contemporary surveys, I show that populations of the dominant kelp Laminaria hyperborea have remained largely stable through time, whereas populations of kelp species located toward their range edges – in particular Laminaria digitata, Laminaria ochroleuca and Alaria esculenta – have changed dramatically. The wider consequences of range shifts and altered abundances for ecological structure and functioning are explored through manipulative experiments and targeted surveys. At the seascape scale, the concurrence of temporal consistency and variability leads to novel species interactions and communities and renders system-wide ecological change complex and difficult to predict. While the paradigm of kelp forests as highly dynamic systems does not always hold true, ocean warming and other human stressors now threaten the continued persistence and stability of these ecosystems in many regions.
