Giant kelp grows in dense stands known as kelp forests. Kelp forests, defined here as habitat-forming brown algae in the orders Laminariales, Fucales, and Desmarestiales, are globally distributed habitats which have declined around the world
Kelp is an ecologically and economically important foundation species in California, where forests line nutrient-rich, rocky bottom coasts. It also might alleviate acidification caused by too much atmospheric carbon being absorbed by the seas.
A new interdisciplinary analysis of giant kelp in Monterey Bay off the coast of California shows that near the ocean’s surface, the water was less acidic, suggesting the kelp canopy does reduce acidity.
