Show threadStefan F. WirthMay 9

@BBCWildlife @bbc-wildlife-magazine-BBCWildlife #Kelpforests are impressive #ecosystems, characterized by a vast #diversity of #species. These underwater landscapes serve as vital carbon sinks for the #greenhousegas #CO2. Consequently, such extraordinary habitats are of scientific interest for contributing to counteract global warming.

Text by Stefan F. Wirth

References:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelp_forest#/media/File%3AKelp_forest.jpg

Science writing G. Green (2026): https://www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/patagonia-megatransect?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Kelp forest - Wikipedia

Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬Nov 28, 2025
How to Revive #California’s #Underwater Forests? Smash a Spiky, Hungry Foe.
A decade ago, the coastline north of San Francisco was the site of one of the most horrific deforestations ever recorded. More than 90% of the towering, majestic #kelpforests, across 200 miles of glittering shore, were dead and gone in years. Felled by freakishly warm #ocean water.
Cove by cove, #scientists, #divers and volunteers are hauling up #urchins to protect #kelp.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/climate/california-kelp-restoration.html
https://archive.ph/j7Qne
Reviving California’s Kelp Forests, One Dive at a Time

Cove by cove, scientists, divers and volunteers are hauling up urchins to protect kelp.

The New York Times
Show threadearthlingOct 15, 2025

The winner of the Underwater category

The egg case of a swell shark, tethered to the base of a giant kelp in Monterey Bay, #California. Researchers estimate that kelp forests in Monterey Bay have declined by more than 95% over the past 34 years. Swell sharks depend on kelp to lay their eggs, making them especially vulnerable to such losses.

Photograph: Ralph Pace/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA

#photography
#KelpForests
#sharks

Charring AuhSep 28, 2025
#Kelpforests thrive in cold, nutrient-rich but climate change may make these wa warmer, more acidic, and oxygen-poor. Although kelps are hardy, these changes could make them more vulnerable to sta and algae-eaters. If kelp forests decline,
Tom's Hardware ItaliaAug 23, 2025

🌊 Proteggiamo i nostri mari per un mondo più verde! Le foreste di kelp prosperano grazie ai mari protetti. #SalviamoIMari #KelpForests

🔗 https://www.tomshw.it/scienze/aree-marine-protette-salvano-foreste-di-alghe-2025-08-22

I mari protetti aiutano la crescita delle foreste di kelp

Le foreste di alghe kelp si riprendono più velocemente dalle ondate di calore marine quando protette nelle Aree Marine Protette secondo i ricercatori UCLA.

Tom's Hardware
Lilith GnosisAug 8, 2025
#Oceans #Environment #KelpForests #Science #Starfish
https://www.livescience.com/animals/mystery-of-why-sea-stars-keep-turning-into-goo-finally-solved-and-its-not-what-scientists-thought?utm_term=426EE068-C1E7-49E7-A9E4-B51FA2238AB2&lrh=c62554ab5aadb4c99bcdbf979ee14f5f9395aed548609b422e9c0612c915ea95&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2F5F801B-4F81-4C1D-A404-EC903CA0D79F&utm_source=SmartBrief
Mystery of why sea stars keep turning into goo finally solved — and it's not what scientists thought

A new study has found that the devastating sea star wasting disease is caused by a strain of bacteria from Vibrio pectenicida, which turns the marine creatures into goo.

Live Science
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Aug 6, 2025

Discovery of #SeaStarWastingDisease cause sheds light on #kelp forest collapse and recovery https://phys.org/news/2025-07-discovery-sea-star-disease-kelp.html

"This comes more than a decade after the start of the marine epidemic that has killed billions of #SeaStars... The 4-year investigation eventually pinpointed the microbial culprit: a strain of the bacterium #Vibrio pectenicida... The loss of #SunflowerSeaStars, which support #KelpForests by feeding on kelp-eating #SeaUrchins, has had widespread and lasting effects on ecosystems"

GeekooMay 27, 2025

Turf algae are poisoning kelp with toxic chemicals, locking Maine’s reefs into ecological collapse. It’s a war beneath the waves. #OceanWarming #KelpForests #MarineScience

https://geekoo.news/algae-war-in-the-warming-gulf/

Algae War in the Warming Gulf | Geekoo

A major study in the Gulf of Maine reveals that turf algae are waging chemical war on juvenile kelp, locking underwater ecosystems into collapse. Without direct intervention, kelp forests may never recover—even in a cooler future.

Geekoo
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Dec 27, 2024

How do you grow an endangered #starfish? Scientists are finding out https://phys.org/news/2024-12-endangered-starfish-scientists.html

"6 billion sunflower stars have died since 2013 due to sea star wasting disease. In their absence, purple urchins surged and chewed through entire undersea forests of #kelp, which are the foundation for a rich marine ecosystem. 96% of Northern #California's #KelpForests have vanished since then... But sunflower stars may once again dot the seabed, thanks to pioneering projects to grow them in labs"

How do you 'grow' an endangered starfish? Scientists are finding out

For the last decade, California's offshore seafloors have been missing a massive, colorful predator that keeps kelp-munching sea urchins in check.

Phys.org
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Nov 10, 2024

Raising Hungry #SeaStar Babies Is No Cinch https://baynature.org/article/raising-hungry-sea-star-babies-is-no-cinch/

"Not so long ago, you could count on #pycnopodia to devour #PurpleUrchins and keep them from eating too much #kelp. A decade ago, the mysterious wasting disease began plaguing #SeaStars, right around the time that a #MarineHeatWave struck... In the absence of their primary predator, urchin populations exploded. Since then they have mown across the sea floor unhindered, leaving urchin barrens where #KelpForests once flourished."

Raising Hungry Sea Star Babies Is No Cinch - Bay Nature

Scientists want to reintroduce these many-armed roombas as a great help for kelp.

Bay Nature