Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience
Giant kelp forests off the west coast of North America are maintained primarily by sea otter (Enhydra lutris) and sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) predation of sea urchins. Human hunting of sea otters in historical times, together with a marine heat wave and sea star wasting disease epi...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 https://doaj.org/article/8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db 2023-05-15T16:36:24+02:00 Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience Peter D. Roopnarine Roxanne M. W. Banker Scott D. Sampson 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 https://doaj.org/article/8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 https://doaj.org/article/8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) kelp forest Steller's sea cow community ecology functional diversity resilience alternative states Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 2022-12-30T19:42:10Z Giant kelp forests off the west coast of North America are maintained primarily by sea otter (Enhydra lutris) and sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) predation of sea urchins. Human hunting of sea otters in historical times, together with a marine heat wave and sea star wasting disease epidemic in the past decade, devastated these predators, leading to widespread occurrences of urchin barrens. Since the late Neogene, species of the megaherbivorous sirenian Hydrodamalis ranged throughout North Pacific giant kelp forests. The last species, H. gigas, was driven to extinction by human hunting in the mid-eighteen century. H. gigas was an obligate kelp canopy browser, and its body size implies that it would have had a significant impact on the system. Here, we hypothesize that sea cow browsing may have enhanced forest resilience. We tested this hypothesis with a mathematical model, comparing historical and modern community responses to marine heat waves and sea star wasting disease. Results indicate that forest communities were highly resistant to marine heat waves, yet susceptible to sea star wasting disease, and to disease in combination with warming. Resistance was greatest among systems with both sea cows and sea otters present. The model additionally predicts that historical communities may have exhibited delayed transitions after perturbation and faster recovery times. Sea cow browsing may therefore have enhanced resilience against modern perturbations. We propose that operationalizing these findings by mimicking sea cow herbivory could enhance kelp forest resilience. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hydrodamalis gigas Steller's sea cow Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
kelp forest Steller's sea cow community ecology functional diversity resilience alternative states Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
kelp forest Steller's sea cow community ecology functional diversity resilience alternative states Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Peter D. Roopnarine Roxanne M. W. Banker Scott D. Sampson Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
topic_facet |
kelp forest Steller's sea cow community ecology functional diversity resilience alternative states Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Giant kelp forests off the west coast of North America are maintained primarily by sea otter (Enhydra lutris) and sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) predation of sea urchins. Human hunting of sea otters in historical times, together with a marine heat wave and sea star wasting disease epidemic in the past decade, devastated these predators, leading to widespread occurrences of urchin barrens. Since the late Neogene, species of the megaherbivorous sirenian Hydrodamalis ranged throughout North Pacific giant kelp forests. The last species, H. gigas, was driven to extinction by human hunting in the mid-eighteen century. H. gigas was an obligate kelp canopy browser, and its body size implies that it would have had a significant impact on the system. Here, we hypothesize that sea cow browsing may have enhanced forest resilience. We tested this hypothesis with a mathematical model, comparing historical and modern community responses to marine heat waves and sea star wasting disease. Results indicate that forest communities were highly resistant to marine heat waves, yet susceptible to sea star wasting disease, and to disease in combination with warming. Resistance was greatest among systems with both sea cows and sea otters present. The model additionally predicts that historical communities may have exhibited delayed transitions after perturbation and faster recovery times. Sea cow browsing may therefore have enhanced resilience against modern perturbations. We propose that operationalizing these findings by mimicking sea cow herbivory could enhance kelp forest resilience. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peter D. Roopnarine Roxanne M. W. Banker Scott D. Sampson |
author_facet |
Peter D. Roopnarine Roxanne M. W. Banker Scott D. Sampson |
author_sort |
Peter D. Roopnarine |
title |
Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
title_short |
Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
title_full |
Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
title_fullStr |
Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
title_sort |
impact of the extinct megaherbivore steller's sea cow (hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 https://doaj.org/article/8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Hydrodamalis gigas Steller's sea cow |
genre_facet |
Hydrodamalis gigas Steller's sea cow |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 https://doaj.org/article/8d7a4e64b85644a497b8a80c978b43db |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.983558 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1766026741226143744 |