Award Abstract # 0752523
Effects of ocean climate change on recruitment of kelp populations

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Initial Amendment Date: May 8, 2008
Latest Amendment Date: April 1, 2010
Award Number: 0752523
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: David Garrison
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate For Geosciences
Start Date: May 15, 2008
End Date: April 30, 2013 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $571,027.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $580,758.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2008 = $571,027.00
FY 2010 = $9,731.00
History of Investigator:
  • Michael Graham (Principal Investigator)
    mgraham@mlml.calstate.edu
  • Chris Harley (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: San Jose State University Foundation
210 N 4TH ST FL 4
SAN JOSE
CA  US  95112-5569
(408)924-1400
Sponsor Congressional District: 18
Primary Place of Performance: San Jose State University
1 WASHINGTON SQ
SAN JOSE
CA  US  95192-1000
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
18
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): LJBXV5VF2BT9
Parent UEI: LJBXV5VF2BT9
NSF Program(s): BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY,
International Research Collab
Primary Program Source: 01000809DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01001011DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 0000, 5911, 5974, 5977, OTHR
Program Element Code(s): 1650, 7298
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

Kelps inhabit a narrow band of the Earth's ocean margins, yet they sustain some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet. Despite over 50 years of intensive field and laboratory research, however, much remains to be understood about the processes that determine the dynamics of kelp populations, and the subsequent consequences for the diversity and productivity of their associated communities. This limitation is due largely to the fact that processes regulating kelp system productivity, dynamics, and diversity are determined by how different kelp species interact with environmental variability over ecological and evolutionary timescales. In the face of imminent ocean climate change, how will individual kelp taxa respond to rising ocean temperatures or decreasing nutrients? This project will use a combination of laboratory and field studies to understand interactive effects of changing temperature and nutrients on gametogenesis, fertilization, and sporophyte recruitment of kelp. This project will use 9 kelp taxa from California, British Columbia, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, and Chile to test for local adaptation vs. phylogenetic patterns in these traits and to understand whether the level of stress experienced by a population determines regional tolerance patterns. The project will integrate research activities into a novel curriculum at Moss Landing Marine Laboratory and will involve students in laboratory and field studies. These activities will help students to develop good laboratory skills and facilitate the development of critical-thinking as it pertains to the comparative analysis of kelp life histories, conceptual models of life history evolution, and ecological implications of climate change.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Kyle W. Demes, Michael H. Graham, and Thew S. Suskiewicz "PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY RECONCILES INCONGRUOUS MOLECULAR AND MORPHOLOGICAL TAXONOMIES: THE GIANT KELP, MACROCYSTIS (LAMINARIALES, PHAEOPHYCEAE), IS A MONOSPECIFIC GENUS" Journal of Phycology , v.45 , 2009 , p.1266 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00752.x
Demes, K. W. and M. H. Graham "ABIOTIC REGULATION OF INVESTMENT IN SEXUAL VERSUS VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION IN THE CLONAL KELP LAMINARIA SINCLAIRII (LAMINARIALES, PHAEOPHYCEAE)" Journal of Phycology , v.47 , 2011 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2011.00981.x
LA Henrıquez, AH Buschmann, MA Maldonado, MH Graham, MC Hernandez-Gonzalez, SV Pereda, and MI Bobadilla "GRAZING ON GIANT KELP MICROSCOPIC PHASES AND THE RECRUITMENT SUCCESS OF ANNUAL POPULATIONS OF MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA (LAMINARIALES, PHAEOPHYTA) IN SOUTHERN CHILE" Journal of Phycology , v.47 , 2011 , p.252 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2010.00955.x
Muth AF "Effects of Zoospore Aggregation and Substrate Rugosity on Kelp Recruitment Success" Journal of Phycology , v.48 , 2012 , p.1374?1379 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2012.01211.x
Harley CDG, Anderson KM, Demes KW, Jorve JP, Kordas RL, Coyle TA, Graham MH "EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON GLOBAL SEAWEED COMMUNITIES" Journal of Phycology , v.48 , 2012 , p.1064?1078 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2012.01224.x
Demes KW, Pruitt JN, Harley CDG, Carrington E "Survival of the weakest: increased frond mechanical strength in a wave-swept kelp inhibits self-pruning and increases whole-plant mortality" Functional Ecology , v.27 , 2013 , p.439?445 10.1111/1365-2435.12067
Demes KW, Harley CDG, Anderson LA, Carrington E "Shifts in morphological and mechanical traits compensate for performance costs of reproduction in a wave-swept seaweed" Journal of Ecology , v.101 , 2013 , p.963?970 10.1111/1365-2745.12099

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This project aimed to establish whether the response of kelp recruitment to climate stressors (increased ocean temperature and decreased nutrients) was affected by either genetics or local acclimation to teh environment. The primary research objective for the project was to conduct a series of laboratory culture experiments under controlled temperature and nutrient conditions and assess the successful propagation of the kelp microscopic life history under such conditions. Individual experiments lasted 2-3 months and were conducted on different species from different collection sites within their distributional range. Additionally, field manipulations were conducted in California, British Columbia and Chile. In total, we conducted 31 laboratory culture experiments on 19 different kelp taxa, from four regions: central California, southern California, British Columbia and Chile. We sampled kelp taxa in each of the four kelp families. In every case, temperature was the overwhelming factor driving reproductive success, rather than nutrients as previously suggested. As such, all kelps responded to temperature with little variability among species. Contrary to current paradigms, nutrients had minimal impact on kelp recruitment. After completing all genetic and geographic sampling, we have concluded that, although temperature has a ubiquitously negative effect on kelp recruitment, the Macrocystae and Costariaceae clades have the ability to geographically acclimate to high temperature, and that the Lessoniaceae can tolerate the warmest temperatures of all clades; the Alariaceae is intolerant of rising temperatures and therefore may be the most vulnerable to climate change. The graduate and undergraduate students conducted 21 additional experiments related to their thesis research to further explore the mechanisms of kelp reproductive success. We met all of Year 1, 2, 3, and 4 laboratory and field objectives, and exceeded the number of proposed experiments by 50%.


Last Modified: 07/31/2013
Modified by: Michael H Graham

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