TY - JOUR
T1 - The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests
AU - Eger, Aaron M.
AU - Marzinelli, Ezequiel M.
AU - Beas-Luna, Rodrigo
AU - Blain, Caitlin O.
AU - Blamey, Laura K.
AU - Byrnes, Jarrett E. K.
AU - Carnell, Paul E.
AU - Choi, Chang Geun
AU - Hessing-Lewis, Margot
AU - Kim, Kwang Young
AU - Kumagai, Naoki H.
AU - Lorda, Julio
AU - Moore, Pippa
AU - Nakamura, Yohei
AU - Pérez-Matus, Alejandro
AU - Pontier, Ondine
AU - Smale, Dan
AU - Steinberg, Peter D.
AU - Vergés, Adriana
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/5/18
Y1 - 2023/5/18
N2 - While marine kelp forests have provided valuable ecosystem services for millennia, the global ecological and economic value of those services is largely unresolved. Kelp forests are diminishing in many regions worldwide, and efforts to manage these ecosystems are hindered without accurate estimates of the value of the services that kelp forests provide to human societies. Here, we present a global estimate of the ecological and economic potential of three key ecosystem services - fisheries production, nutrient cycling, and carbon removal provided by six major forest forming kelp genera (Ecklonia, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, Nereocystis, and Saccharina). Each of these genera creates a potential value of between $64,400 and $147,100/hectare each year. Collectively, they generate between $465 and $562 billion/year worldwide, with an average of $500 billion. These values are primarily driven by fisheries production (mean $29,900, 904 Kg/Ha/year) and nitrogen removal ($73,800, 657 Kg N/Ha/year), though kelp forests are also estimated to sequester 4.91 megatons of carbon from the atmosphere/year highlighting their potential as blue carbon systems for climate change mitigation. These findings highlight the ecological and economic value of kelp forests to society and will facilitate better informed marine management and conservation decisions.
AB - While marine kelp forests have provided valuable ecosystem services for millennia, the global ecological and economic value of those services is largely unresolved. Kelp forests are diminishing in many regions worldwide, and efforts to manage these ecosystems are hindered without accurate estimates of the value of the services that kelp forests provide to human societies. Here, we present a global estimate of the ecological and economic potential of three key ecosystem services - fisheries production, nutrient cycling, and carbon removal provided by six major forest forming kelp genera (Ecklonia, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, Nereocystis, and Saccharina). Each of these genera creates a potential value of between $64,400 and $147,100/hectare each year. Collectively, they generate between $465 and $562 billion/year worldwide, with an average of $500 billion. These values are primarily driven by fisheries production (mean $29,900, 904 Kg/Ha/year) and nitrogen removal ($73,800, 657 Kg N/Ha/year), though kelp forests are also estimated to sequester 4.91 megatons of carbon from the atmosphere/year highlighting their potential as blue carbon systems for climate change mitigation. These findings highlight the ecological and economic value of kelp forests to society and will facilitate better informed marine management and conservation decisions.
KW - Carbon
KW - Climate Change
KW - Ecosystem
KW - Forests
KW - Humans
KW - Kelp
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152863611&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-023-37385-0
DO - 10.1038/s41467-023-37385-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 37072389
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 14
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 1894
ER -