Naturalist Notebook Series: Kelp Matters! - Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy is proud to introduce the Naturalist Notebook Series, which will offer a variety topics to enhance your knowledge of the Landmarks and Open Space. As well, it is an opportunity to provide interpretive engagement for the public.

Join us this month to hear Dr. Jennifer Burnaford, Associate Professor for the Department of Biological Science at Cal State Fullerton, presents on the Causes and Consequences of Shifting Abundance of Intertidal Kelps

Canopy-forming seaweeds play an extremely important role in determining the structure and function of communities in the intertidal zone (the area covered by seawater at high tide and exposed to air at low tide). As photosynthetic organisms at the base of the food web, seaweeds are a food source for many intertidal animals (e.g. snails, limpets, chitons, and crabs). Yet the cool, dark, and moist conditions underneath the canopy of large seaweeds can provide a critical refuge from stressful environmental conditions for these same animals during low tide. Kelps (seaweeds in the Order Laminariales) form extensive canopies in the low intertidal zone on rocky shores along the North American Pacific coast. My work is focused on determining the factors that control the abundance of canopy-forming kelps and on evaluating the consequences of changes in abundance for the rest of the ecological community.

The Santa Ana River Watershed is the largest in Orange County, covering 210.47 square miles. The river begins almost 75 miles away in the San Bernardino Mountains, crossing central Orange County before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river serves as the main tributary to the watershed with Santiago Creek being the largest tributary within Orange County. The Landmarks is part of this watershed and messaging about what ends up at the ocean and how it affects the food sources of the intertidal animals is vital to connecting participants to the land.