Kelp Restoration in the Boulder Patch

The Boulder Patch region in the Beaufort Sea is a highly diverse, sensitive nearshore habitat in the midst of oil and gas production activities in the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. This study explored the use of artificial reefs as a mechanism to enhance of the benthic community, including habitat-forming kelp, should a need for habitat restoration occur. Artificial reefs consisting of natural rocks were deployed at four sites and re-sampled for two years. Recruitment occurred within one year and continued through the second year. Early recruits included mostly red algae, sponges, bivalves, barnacles, and polychaetes, as well as individuals of the kelp Laminaria solidungula. Recruitment occurred through a mixture of vegetative growth, fragment dispersal, mobile immigration, and new recruitment of larvae or spores. Sedimentation at sites did not prevent early colonization of bare substrate. Early colonization seems to be strongly influenced by episodic events of mass recruitment, and it is likely that the development of a mature community where such events have “averaged out” will take decades.

2019-09-12 → 2024-02-01