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University of California Press

The Biology and Ecology of Giant Kelp Forests


by David R. Schiel (Author), Michael S. Foster (Author)
Price: $75.00 / £63.00
Publication Date: May 2015
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9780520961098
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Illustrations: 95 b/w illus., 5 tables

About the Book

The largest seaweed, giant kelp (Macrocystis) is the fastest growing and most prolific of all plants found on earth. Growing from the seafloor and extending along the ocean surface in lush canopies, giant kelp provides an extensive vertical habitat in a largely two-dimensional seascape. It is the foundation for one of the most species-rich, productive, and widely distributed ecological communities in the world.

Schiel and Foster’s scholarly review and synthesis take the reader from Darwin’s early observations to contemporary research, providing a historical perspective for the modern understanding of giant kelp evolution, biogeography, biology, and physiology.

The authors furnish a comprehensive discussion of kelp species and forest ecology worldwide, with considerations of human uses and abuses, management and conservation, and the current and likely future impacts of global change.

This volume promises to be the definitive treatise and reference on giant kelp and its forests for many years, and it will appeal to marine scientists and others who want a better appreciation and understanding of these wondrous forests of the sea.

About the Author

David R. Schiel is Professor of Marine Science at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, where he leads the Marine Ecology Research Group. His primary research interests are the interactions of species’ life histories with the ecological and oceanographic processes responsible for nearshore marine community structure. 

Michael S. Foster is Professor Emeritus at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San Jose State University. He received his BS and MA degrees from Stanford University and PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research interests center on the ecology of subtidal and intertidal reefs.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

PART I. THE BIOLOGY OF GIANT KELP
1. Introduction to Giant Kelp Forests Worldwide
2. The Structure, Function, and Abiotic Requirements of
3. The Abiotic Environment
4. Demography, Dispersal, and Connectivity of Populations

PART II. THE GIANT KELP ECOSYSTEM
5. Giant Kelp Communities
6. Detached Giant Kelp Communities, Production, and Food / Control Webs
7. Facilitative and Competitive Interactions in Giant Kelp Forests
8. Grazing in Kelp Communities
9. Predation and Trophic Cascades in Kelp Communities

PART III. HUMAN USAGE, MANAGEMENT, AND CONSERVATION
10. Anthropogenic Effects on Kelp Forests
11. Human Usage of Giant Kelp and Kelp Forest Organisms
12. Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries Effects

PART IV. GLOBAL CHANGE AND THE FUTURE
13. Global Change
14. Giant Kelp Forests: Conclusions and Final Thought

Afterword
References
Index

Reviews

"A detailed, multifaceted synthesis of knowledge. . . . Recommended."
CHOICE connect
“Remarkable… as comprehensive as could conceivably be attempted… A pleasure to read.”
Phycologia
The Biology and Ecology of Giant Kelp Forests will be the seminal work on kelp forest ecosystems. It greatly updates the authors’ earlier synthesis on the topic, not only bringing their work up to date but also providing a fresh look at how kelp forests ‘work’ in different parts of the world.” —John Pearse, Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

“The broad and deep treatment of the subject makes this book an important contribution to kelp forest ecology and marine ecology in general. This book will have a lasting impact as a desk reference and textbook for students, researchers, and coastal managers.”
—Michael Graham, Professor, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and coeditor of the Journal of Phycology

“The authors' scholarship is evident in their thorough review of over 800 publications, which provides the most up-to-date insights into the biology, ecology, and human use of giant kelp forests. There is simply nothing else like it.”
—Dan Reed, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Awards

  • 2016 Winner for Single Volume Reference in Science 2015, PROSE Award for Excellence
  • Gerald W. Prescott Award 2017, Phycological Society of America