The biology and ecology of giant kelp forests / David R. Schiel and Michael S. Foster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schiel, David R., author.

Foster, Michael S., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Giant kelp.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (412 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. The Biology of Giant Kelp

Part II. The Giant Kelp Ecosystem

Part III. Human Usage, Management, and Conservation

Part IV. Global Change and the Future

Afterword

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

OCLC:

906925033