Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
89
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.7.1
Dataset results
89 results for “Kelp Forest”
Management regime influences the recovery of subtidal kelp forests following harvesting
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Marine Protection and Environmental Forcing Influence Fish-Derived Nutrient Cycling in Kelp Forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Human-induced reductions in fish predator boldness decrease their predation rates on prey in kelp forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Ocean warming undermines the recovery resilience of New England kelp forests following a fishery-induced trophic cascade
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: The dynamics of Kelp Forests in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the relationship with environmental drivers
1.The dynamics of foundation species in ecosystems are key to the fate of many species. Kelp forests are foundation species in temperate ocean ecosystems and contribute to carbon storage, macronutrient dynamics, primary production, and biodiversity of myriad associated species. Downward trends in their abundance globally have been of concern. 2.We analyzed 26 years of aerial censuses (1989-2015) of 2 canopy kelp species in Washington State (USA) waters. We compared these modern censuses with censuses in 1911 and 1912 to determine the persistence of kelp cover over the past century. Using Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models, we compared kelp dynamics with likely environmental drivers, including local environmental variables and ocean indices for this region. 3.Kelp remains at historic levels in many areas, though some eastern populations in proximity to greater human populations are the exception to this pattern. Over the last 26 years, kelp abundance showed high spatial autocorrelation in western areas of Straits of Juan de Fuca, with more variable populations in the annual species and eastward toward Puget Sound. Both species covaried positively in their abundance throughout most of the study area, suggesting environmental factors rather than competition, drove their dynamics. The population dynamics of these kelp species showed that the abundance one year previous was an important predictor, and cyclic dynamics were not indicated using Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models. Kelp abundance correlated inversely with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Oceanic Nino Index, and positively with the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, indicating that large-scale processes associated with colder seawater temperatures were associated with greater relative abundance of kelp. 4.Synthesis. Kelp beds in the northern California Current Large Marine Ecosystem have mostly remained persistent over the past century and over many km, but some areas may have decreased in abundance. The sensitivity of these populations to indices of ocean climate, our demonstration that a historic 93-year SST record (Race Rocks, Canada) showed a 0.72°C increase, and the classification of some areas as high variability-low abundance, suggest that the viability of these foundational species remain a concern into the future.
Data from: Persistent differences between coastal and offshore kelp forest communities in a warming Gulf of Maine
Kelp forests provide important ecosystem services, yet coastal kelp communities are increasingly altered by anthropogenic impacts. Kelp forests in remote, offshore locations may provide an informative contrast due to reduced impacts from local stressors. We tested the hypothesis that shallow kelp assemblages (12-15 m depth) and associated fish and benthic communities in the coastal southwest Gulf of Maine (GOM) differed significantly from sites on Cashes Ledge, 145 km offshore by sampling five coastal and three offshore sites at 43.0 +/- 0.07° N latitude. Offshore sites on Cashes Ledge supported the greatest density (47.8 plants m-2) and standing crop biomass (5.5 kg m-2 fresh weight) of the foundation species Saccharina latissima kelp at this depth in the Western North Atlantic. Offshore densities of S. latissima were over 150 times greater than at coastal sites, with similar but lower magnitude trends for congeneric S. digitata. Despite these differences, S. latissima underwent a significant 36.2% decrease between 1987 and 2015 on Cashes Ledge, concurrent with a rapid warming of the GOM and invasion by the kelp-encrusting bryozoan Membranipora membranacea. In contrast to kelp, the invasive red alga Dasysiphonia japonica was significantly more abundant at coastal sites, suggesting light or dispersal limitation offshore. Spatial differences in fish abundance mirrored those of kelp, as the average biomass of all fish on Cashes Ledge was 305 times greater than at the coastal sites. Remote video censuses of cod (Gadus morhua), cunner (Tautaogolabrus adspersus), and pollock (Pollachius virens) corroborated these findings. Understory benthic communities also differed between regions, with greater abundance of sessile invertebrates offshore. Populations of kelp-consuming sea urchins Stronglyocentrotus droebachiensis were virtually absent from Cashes Ledge while small urchins were abundant onshore, suggesting recruitment limitation offshore. Despite widespread warming of the GOM since 1987, extraordinary spatial differences in the abundance of primary producers (kelp), consumers (cod) and benthic communities between coastal and offshore sites have persisted. The shallow kelp forest communities offshore on Cashes Ledge represent an oasis of unusually high kelp and fish abundance in the region, and as such, comprise a persistent abundance hotspot that is functionally significant for sustained biological productivity of offshore regions of the Gulf of Maine.
Data from: Light limitation within southern New Zealand kelp forest communities
Light is the fundamental driver of primary productivity in the marine environment. Reduced light availability has the potential to alter the distribution, community composition, and productivity of key benthic primary producers, potentially reducing habitat and energy provision to coastal food webs. We compared the underwater light environment of macroalgal dominated shallow subtidal rocky reef habitats on a coastline modified by human activities with a coastline of forested catchments. Key metrics describing the availability of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were determined over 295 days and were related to macroalgal depth distribution, community composition, and standing biomass patterns, which were recorded seasonally. Light attenuation was more than twice as high in shallow subtidal zones along the modified coast. Macroalgal biomass was 2–5 times greater within forested sites, and even in shallow water (2m) a significant difference in biomass was observed. Long-term light dose provided the best explanation for differences in observed biomass between modified and forested coasts, with light availability over the study period differing by 60 and 90 mol photons m−2 at 2 and 10 metres, respectively. Higher biomass on the forested coast was driven by the presence of larger individuals rather than species diversity or density. This study suggests that commonly used metrics such as species diversity and density are not as sensitive as direct measures of biomass when detecting the effects of light limitation within macroalgal communities.
The legacies of land-clearance and trophic downgrading accumulate to affect structure and function of kelp forests
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand is the last major landmass settled by people, and therefore provides a recent record of ecological legacy effects in the coastal zone. Large-scale land clearances of forests accelerated over the last century, affecting the concentration of suspended sediments, light environment and nutrient composition on rocky reefs, and consequently the distribution, abundance and composition of algal forests. Environmental effects were compounded in many places by overfishing and long-term declines of large predatory species, often leading to proliferation and extensive grazing by sea urchins. Here we examine these processes in three biogeographic regions that have been differentially affected by ecological legacy effects. The study was based on the depth-specific associations between sea urchins (<em>Evechinus chloroticus</em>) and the common kelp (<em>Ecklonia radiata</em>) from multiple sites within each region, some of which were sampled over two decades within no-take marine reserves and in actively fished areas. Satellite-derived estimates of water column properties were used as proxies for the relative effects of coastal sedimentation on kelp forest habitats. We then used an information-theoretic framework to assess the relative factor weightings of marine reserve effects on urchin density, total suspended solids and regional urchin density on the depth-specific density of <em>E. radiata</em>. Fishing effects were significant within and outside of reserves in the Northern and Central regions, but the effect-sizes were by far strongest in the Northern region. In the Central region characterised by extensive land clearance and forestry combined with high coastal retention of water, the concentration of total suspended solids had a major influence on the depth distribution of kelp, confining it to shallow water (<10m depth) in small patches where urchins did not overgraze. These patterns are in sharp contrast to the small marine reserve effects and deep distribution of <em>E. radiata</em> in the Southern region, which has intact native forested catchments, comparatively low fishing pressure and a large regional network of marine reserves. The results highlight important differences in how centuries-old legacies of land clearance and exploitation affect regional-scale dynamics of sea urchins and kelp, and define the appropriate spatial scale of ecosystem-based management of kelp forest habitats.</p>
Intraspecific variation and energy channel coupling within a Chilean kelp forest
<p>The widespread importance of variable types of primary production, or energy channels, to consumer communities has become increasingly apparent. However, the mechanisms underlying this 'multichannel' feeding remain poorly understood, especially for aquatic ecosystems that pose unique logistical constraints given the diversity of potential energy channels. Here, we use bulk tissue isotopic analysis along with carbon isotope (δ<sup>13</sup>C) analysis of individual amino acids to characterize the relative contribution of pelagic and benthic energy sources to a kelp forest consumer community in northern Chile. We measured bulk tissue δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N for >120 samples; of these we analyzed δ<sup>13</sup>Cvalues of six essential amino acids (EAA) from nine primary producer groups (n=41) and eleven representative nearshore consumer taxa (n=56). Using EAA δ<sup>13</sup>C data, we employed linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to assess how distinct EAA δ<sup>13</sup>C values were between local pelagic (phytoplankton/particulate organic matter), and benthic (kelps, red and green algae) endmembers. With this model, we were able to correctly classify nearly 90% of producer samples to their original groupings, a significant improvement on traditional bulk isotopic analysis. With this EAA isotopic library, we then generated probability distributions for the most important sources of production for each individual consumer and species using a bootstrap-resampling LDA approach. We found evidence for multichannel feeding within the community at the species level. Invertebrates tended to focus on <i>either</i> pelagic or benthic energy, deriving 13–67% of their EAA from pelagic sources. In contrast, mobile (fish) taxa at higher trophic levels used more equal proportions of each channel, ranging from 19–47% pelagically-derived energy. Within a taxon, multichannel feeding was a result of specialization among individuals in energy channel usage, with 37 of 56 individual consumers estimated to derive >80% of their EAA from a single channel. Our study reveals how a cutting-edge isotopic technique can characterize the dynamics of energy flow in coastal food webs, a topic which has been historically difficult to address. More broadly, our work provides a mechanism as to how multichannel feeding may occur in nearshore communities, and we suggest this pattern be investigated in additional ecosystems.</p>
Parasites in kelp-forest food webs increase food-chain length, complexity, and specialization, but reduce connectance
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
The legacies of land-clearance and trophic downgrading accumulate to affect structure and function of kelp forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Experiments reveal limited top-down control of key herbivores in southern California kelp forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Persistent differences between coastal and offshore kelp forest communities in a warming Gulf of Maine
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Light limitation within southern New Zealand kelp forest communities
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Exploitation and recovery of a sea urchin predator has implications for the resilience of southern California kelp forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Testing small scale ecological gradients and intraspecific differentiation for hundreds of kelp forest species using haplotypes from metabarcoding
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Cobble community DNA as a tool to monitor patterns of biodiversity within kelp forest ecosystems
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Assessing vertebrate biodiversity in a kelp forest ecosystem using environmental DNA
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: The dynamics of Kelp Forests in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the relationship with environmental drivers
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Intraspecific variation and energy channel coupling within a Chilean kelp forest
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.