Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 14 July 1989:
Vol. 245. no. 4914, pp. 170 - 173
DOI: 10.1126/science.245.4914.170
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Magnification of Secondary Production by Kelp Detritus in Coastal Marine Ecosystems

D. O. DUGGINS 1, C. A. SIMENSTAD 2, and J. A. ESTES 3

1 Friday Harbor Laboratories, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.
2 Fisheries Research Institute, WH-10, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
3 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.

Kelps are highly productive seaweeds found along most temperate latitude coastlines, but the fate and importance of kelp production to nearshore ecosystems are largely unknown. The trophic role of kelp-derived carbon in a wide range of marine organisms was assessed by a natural experiment. Growth rates of benthic suspension feeders were greatly increased in the presence of organic detritus (particulate and dissolved) originating from large benthic seaweeds (kelps). Stable carbon isotope analysis confirmed that kelp-derived carbon is found throughout the nearshore food web.

Submitted on November 28, 1988
Accepted on May 16, 1989


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Changes in northeast Pacific marine ecosystems over the last 4500 years: evidence from stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from archeological middens.
N. Misarti, B. Finney, H. Maschner, and M. J. Wooller (2009)
The Holocene 19, 1139-1151
   Abstract »    PDF »
Causes and consequences of marine mammal population declines in southwest Alaska: a food-web perspective.
J.A. Estes, D.F. Doak, A.M. Springer, and T.M. Williams (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 1647-1658
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neuroecology, Chemical Defense, and the Keystone Species Concept.
R. K. Zimmer and R. P. Ferrer (2007)
Biol. Bull. 213, 208-225
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Deep-water kelp refugia as potential hotspots of tropical marine diversity and productivity.
M. H. Graham, B. P. Kinlan, L. D. Druehl, L. E. Garske, and S. Banks (2007)
PNAS 104, 16576-16580
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of large body size in abalones (Haliotis): patterns and implications.
J. A. Estes, D. R. Lindberg, and C. Wray (2005)
Paleobiology 31, 591-606
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nutrient loading and consumers: Agents of change in open-coast macrophyte assemblages.
K. J. Nielsen (2003)
PNAS 100, 7660-7665
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
{delta}15N and {delta}13C Measurements of Antarctic Peninsula Fauna: Trophic Relationships and Assimilation of Benthic Seaweeds.
K. H. Dunton (2001)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 41, 99-112
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Killer Whale Predation on Sea Otters Linking Oceanic and Nearshore Ecosystems.
J. A. Estes, M. T. Tinker, T. M. Williams, and D. F. Doak (1998)
Science 282, 473-476
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Benthic-pelagic links and rocky intertidal communities: Bottom-up effects on top-down control?.
B. A. Menge, B. A. Daley, P. A. Wheeler, E. Dahlhoff, E. Sanford, and P. T. Strub (1997)
PNAS 94, 14530-14535
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)