Kelps are found along 25% of coastlines, representing some of the world’s most productive habitats, especially at higher latitudes. They play a key role in maintaining biodiversity, habitat provisioning and ecosystem function. During disturbance events such as storms, kelp individuals can detach from the benthos, and form kelp rafts.
There are currently an estimated 70 million kelp rafts floating in the Southern Ocean, it is understood that these kelp rafts originate from the kelp forests across the sub-Antarctic and have the capacity to transport organisms over 10,000s of kilometres. Therefore, it is clear that kelp rafts have the potential to act as a substantial vector for maintaining population connectivity within the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic.
Very little is understood regarding the biodiversity of kelp plants within the Falkland Islands and therefore what is being transported on these rafts. Furthermore, with climate change it is thought that the permeability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is being altered, resulting in more kelp rafts arriving at Antarctic shores, as we know that kelp rafts can act as a vector supporting long distance dispersal of associated organisms it is also possible that they could transport non-native species to the previously ecological isolated Antarctic posing a threat to native biodiversity.
In order to assess the threat, it is vital we understand the risks posed, what species are associated with kelp in-situ, what species remain associated with kelp during rafting journeys, and finally of those species which are capable of withstanding the environmental conditions of Antarctica both now and under future warming scenarios.
The Falkland Islands are fringed by dense but poorly characterised kelp forests of Macrocystis pyrifera and Durvillaea antarctica, providing the islands with ecosystem services valued at ~ £2.69 billion (Bayley et al 2021). These services include carbon storage, nutrient cycling, fisheries nurseries and coastal protection. Kelp are ideal indicators for early detection of ecosystem change and this research provides an urgently needed baseline for long-term monitoring of kelp ecosystems in the FI. Climate change is likely to impact kelp ecosystem structure, function and resilience, making it important to develop effective conservation and management strategies.
This project explores the biodiversity associated with Durvillaea antarctica (bull kelp) and Macrocystis pyrifera (giant kelp) in the coastal waters of the Falkland Islands. By exploring the biodiversity associated with kelp in the coastal waters, we aim to quantify faunal community response to kelp detachment, their dispersal to sub-Antarctic and Antarctic shores, and determine whether key raft-associated species are able to tolerate thermal regimes in new regimes and under predicted IPCC warming scenarios. With the goal of informing policy to protect Southern Ocean biodiversity in the face of climate change.
