Mesograzers of giant kelp (Macrocystic pyrifera) at Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA: community structure and seasonal patterns

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: This thesis describes the mesograzer community of the Hopkins Marine Station kelp bed canopy. The community is characterized in terms of both taxonomic and size class composition based on data from samples collected monthly from August 2010 to July 2011. Multivariate analysis revealed seasonal variation in community structure driven primarily by high numbers of copepods in the spring and summer. Larger-bodied taxa known to graze significantly on kelp exhibited higher abundances and sizes in winter months, especially the kelp isopod Idotea resecata. These changes in community structure were correlated with the intensity of seasonal upwelling. Changes in food quality associated with nutrients advected into the system by upwelling may have played a role in altering the relative abundances of different taxa. The increased density of large-bodied grazers in months following low upwelling may have been in part an artifact of their high mobility and a lower standing crop of kelp that coincided with these periods. Regardless of its ultimate cause, the co-occurrence of high mesograzer density and low nutrient availability synergistically elevates tissue degradation and loss by Macrocystis at this time of year with implications for both the kelp forest community and neighboring habitats.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 2012

Subject	Hopkins Marine Station
Subject	Stanford Biology Department
Subject	Marine Life Observatory
Subject	MLO
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/zx025xk3915

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Preferred Citation: Kirkham, Amy (2012). Mesograzers of giant kelp (Macrocystic pyrifera) at Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA: community structure and seasonal patterns. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at http://purl.stanford.edu/zx025xk3915

Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Honors Theses

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