Catastrophic Storms, El Niño, and Patch Stability in a Southern California Kelp Community
Abstract
Strong winter storms in southern California destroyed most of the canopy of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera but not the patches of understory kelps in the Point Loma kelp forest near San Diego. Subsequent massive recruitment of Macrocystis juveniles and adults that survived the storms had low survival in the summer during the California El Niño of 1983. The combined disturbance may have long-lasting structural consequences for this community because, once established, the understory patches can resist invasion by Macrocystis.
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Published In
Science
Volume 224 | Issue 4646
20 April 1984
20 April 1984
Copyright
1984 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 16 January 1984
Accepted: 10 February 1984
Published in print: 20 April 1984
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