Monitoring Kelp Forest Ecosystems
Without accurate monitoring, it's impossible to fully understand the ecological, cultural, and economic benefits of kelp forests—or the success of interventions to protect and restore them.
We Need Kelp Forests
As vital ecosystems, kelp forests support a wide range of life, from tiny invertebrates to large marine mammals. Kelp provides food, shelter, and breeding grounds for countless species, including salmon, herring, sea otters, and even orcas. This rich habitat is essential for maintaining life both in the ocean and on land.
However, over 50% of kelp forests have been lost or degraded in the past 50 years primarily due to climate change and ecosystem imbalances. The need to protect and restore these critical ecosystems has never been more urgent.
But you can't restore what you can't measure!
Conservation Without Proper Monitoring and Reporting is at Best an Estimation
With the steady decline of kelp forests, it’s crucial that we ensure our restoration and protection efforts are effective.
To reverse the global decline of kelp, we need scalable, innovative, cost-effective, and collaborative approaches. Standardized protocols for monitoring kelp forest restoration and stewardship are essential for comparing projects, measuring progress, and sharing best practices.
This is why Ocean Wise and the Kelp Forest Alliance have partnered to create a comprehensive guidebook for monitoring kelp forest ecosystems.
Monitoring Kelp Forest Ecosystems: A Guidebook to Quantifying Biodiversity, Ecosystem Health, and Ecosystem Benefits
What Does This Guidebook Cover?
Within the pages of our guidebook you'll find standardized procedures for measuring and monitoring:
Track key indicators of kelp forest health, such as size, density, biomass, and sea floor coverage, to ensure ecosystem vitality.
Measure the carbon taken up by kelp from the water and stored in biomass, whether at the individual plant level or across entire ecosystems over time.
Assess the far-reaching benefits of kelp forests—from supporting a vast array of ocean biodiversity to its cultural importance for coastal communities around the world.
As the field of kelp restoration grows, the standardized approach outlined in Monitoring Kelp Forest Ecosystems: A Guidebook to Quantifying Biodiversity, Ecosystem Health, and Ecosystem Benefits will enable global collaboration, helping restoration practitioners share knowledge and improve outcomes.
Scott Bohachyk
Director, Seaforestation, Ocean Wise.
