Departmental Seminar

In many regions of the world, ocean warming has triggered the decline of foundation species and emergence of novel species, processes, and ecosystem states. Yet, the impacts of emergent “state shifts” on the ecology of coastal ecosystems, and their recovery potential, remain poorly understood and thus difficult to predict and manage. In this talk, I will discuss a warming-induced state shift that is now unfolding in kelp forests located in the Gulf of Maine -- one of the fastest warming ocean basins in the world. Over the last decade, my team and I have documented the dynamics and drivers of this state shift across the Gulf, and recently revealed this shift (from large canopy-forming kelps to low-lying carpets of “turf algae”) has impacts that reverberate across trophic levels, markedly altering the functioning and resilience of this ecosystem. I will conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for kelp forest conservation and restoration, and more broadly how our work in the Gulf of Maine can inform the way we study and manage global ocean change.