Edwards M et al. (2020), Marine deforestation leads to widespread loss o...

ECB-ART-48543

PLoS One 2020 Jan 01;153:e0226173. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226173.

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Marine deforestation leads to widespread loss of ecosystem function.

Edwards M , Konar B , Kim JH , Gabara S , Sullaway G , McHugh T , Spector M , Small S .

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Trophic interactions can result in changes to the abundance and distribution of habitat-forming species that dramatically reduce ecosystem functioning. In the coastal zone of the Aleutian Archipelago, overgrazing by herbivorous sea urchins that began in the 1990s resulted in widespread deforestation of the region''s kelp forests, which led to lower macroalgal abundances and higher benthic irradiances. We examined how this deforestation impacted ecosystem function by comparing patterns of net ecosystem production (NEP), gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Re), and the range between GPP and Re in remnant kelp forests, urchin barrens, and habitats that were in transition between the two habitat types at nine islands that spanned more than 1000 kilometers of the archipelago. Our results show that deforestation, on average, resulted in a 24% reduction in GPP, a 26% reduction in Re, and a 24% reduction in the range between GPP and Re. Further, the transition habitats were intermediate to the kelp forests and urchin barrens for these metrics. These opposing metabolic processes remained in balance; however, which resulted in little-to-no changes to NEP. These effects of deforestation on ecosystem productivity, however, were highly variable between years and among the study islands. In light of the worldwide declines in kelp forests observed in recent decades, our findings suggest that marine deforestation profoundly affects how coastal ecosystems function.

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Genes referenced: LOC100887844 LOC115923516

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	Fig 1. Three habitat types.Photographs of each habitat type showing (A) high abundance of benthic macroalgae and canopy-forming kelps in the kelp forests, (B) lack of benthic macroalgae but remaining canopy-forming kelps and high abundances of sea urchins in the transition habitats, and (C) lack of benthic macroalgae and canopy-forming kelps, but high abundances of sea urchins in the urchin barrens.
	Fig 2. Map of the Aleutian Archipelago.Map of the Aleutian Archipelago showing locations of the nine islands (denoted by red circles) where ecosystem productivity (NEP, GPP and Re) was measured in the cBITs. Shoreline data was obtained from the Global Self-Consistent Hierarchical High-resolution Shoreline (GSHHG) dataset version 2.3.4 (www.soest.hawaii.edu/wessel/gshhg/) [32].
	Fig 3. Algae and invertebrate biomass.Box plots showing (A) Macroalgae (gray bars) and invertebrate (white bars) biomass measured in the cBITs deployed within each habitat type (kelp forests, transition habitats, and urchin barrens) at six islands during 2017 (Table 1). Red diamonds represent mean values, and horizontal lines represent median values.
	Fig 4. Algae and invertebrate biomass.Mean biomass (± SE) of (A) all kelps, and red, brown and green macroalgae, and (B) the most abundant taxonomic groups of invertebrates collected from within the cBITs in each habitat type at six of the islands where the cBITs were deployed in 2017 (Table 1). Fig 5B is divided into two panels, with abundant taxa on the left panel, and rarer taxa on the right panel.
	Fig 5. Production metrics.Box plots showing (A) Net Ecosystem Production (NEP), (B) Gross Primary Production (GPP), (C) Ecosystem Respiration (Re), (D) the range between GPP and Re (Range), and (E) Irradiance (PAR), as measured in the cBITs deployed within each habitat type (kelp forests, transition habitats, and urchin barrens) at nine islands during 2016 and 2017 (Fig 2, Table 1). Red diamonds represent mean values, and horizontal lines represent median values. Boxes within each graph that do not share letters represent significant differences between habitat pairs.
	Fig 6. GPP versus Re.Relationship between gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) for each habitat type across all nine islands where cBITs were deployed in 2016 and 2017 (Table 1). Each point represents measurements from a single cBIT. Gray shading denoted 95% confidence intervals.
	Fig 7. GPP and Re ratios.Frequency distribution of GPP / Re ratios within each habitat type across all nine islands where cBITs were deployed in 2016 and 2017 (Table 1). Each data point represents measurements from a single cBIT. Note the urchin barrens have the highest ratios observed, and the kelp forests have the largest number of low values. The vertical dashed line represents the 1:1 ratio.
	Fig 8. Photograph of cBIT.Photograph of (A) cBIT before deployment showing 26” skirt around perimeter, flexible polycarbonate walls, steel framing, anchor chain used to hold skirt and cBIT to the benthos, and (B) cBIT deployed in kelp forest showing PAR and oxygen sensors placed both inside and outside the chamber.

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