Spatial-temporal resilience of kelp forests in the face of changing conditions in British Columbia, Canada (BCKelpR)

形成树冠的海带森林被全球公认为结构最复杂的基础生态系统之一，在维持海洋食物网、缓冲海岸线免受侵蚀以及促进碳和氮循环方面发挥着重要作用。在不列颠哥伦比亚省沿海，海带森林作为历史航道和重要食物来源的栖息地具有文化相关性，特别是对沿海原住民来说。今天，气候变暖、沿海开发和沉积的累积影响威胁到包括海藻在内的海洋物种，这些物种在加拿大被公认为具有重要生态意义的优先物种。失去这一重要栖息地将极大地影响具有商业价值的海洋渔业和濒危或濒危物种，导致大规模生态变化和许多沿海社区失去一种生活方式。在公元前，由于当地环境压力和全球-区域气候变化驱动因素的研究不足，公牛和巨型海带物种的现状及其命运尚不清楚。这一NSERC联盟伙伴关系在战略上是一致的，以提高区域知识创造能力，以应对大规模数据分析和知识动员。通过使用历史数据和遥感技术以及大数据分析，该项目旨在确定形成树冠的海藻森林的长期分布模式，并确定对环境和生物驱动因素的时空弹性。预期的结果和进步将为加拿大人带来社会、经济和环境利益。例如，确定海藻复原力的关键生境或“热点”、海藻丧失的高风险区域和潜在恢复目标区域，将被纳入基于生态系统的管理战略，为海洋保护区、海洋空间规划、海藻捕捞和渔业生境管理提供信息。该联盟制定的框架可扩展到加拿大东部和北极海岸，并可推动设计和发展可持续的海洋蓝色经济，作为加拿大蓝色经济战略以及相关蓝碳倡议的一部分。

Canopy-forming kelp forests are globally recognized as one of the most structurally complex foundational ecosystems, which play an important role in maintaining marine food webs, buffering shorelines against erosion and contributing to carbon and nitrogen cycling. In coastal British Columbia, kelp forests have cultural relevance as historical navigation routes and as habitats for important food sources, particularly for coastal First Nations. Today, the cumulative effects of a warming climate, coastal development and sedimentation, threaten marine species including kelps, which are recognized as ecologically significant species of priority in Canada. Loss of this critical habitat will greatly impact commercially valuable marine fisheries and at-risk or endangered species, resulting in large-scale ecological shifts and the loss of a way of life for many coastal communities. In BC, the current status of bull and giant kelp species, and their fate is unknown, due to insufficient research within the context of local environmental stressors and global-regional climate drivers of change. This NSERC Alliance Partnership is strategically aligned to increase the regional knowledge-generating capacity to tackle large-scale data analysis and knowledge mobilization. By employing historical data and remote sensing technologies with big data analytics, this project aims to determine the long-term distribution patterns of canopy-forming kelp forests and define spatial-temporal resilience to environmental and biotic drivers. Anticipated outcomes and advancements will result in social, economic and environmental benefits for Canadians. For example, the identification of critical habitats or "hots-spots" of kelp resilience, areas at high risk for kelp loss and areas of potential target for restoration, will be integrated into ecosystem-based management strategies to inform Marine Protected Areas, spatial marine planning, kelp harvesting, and fisheries habitat management. The framework developed by this Alliance can be expanded to the Canadian East and Arctic coasts and can fuel the design and development of a sustainable, ocean-based blue economy, as part of Canada's Blue Economy Strategy, as well as related Blue Carbon initiatives.