The ghost of a giant – Six hypotheses for how an extinct megaherbivore structured kelp forests across the North Pacific Rim

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dc.contributor.authorBullen, Cameron D.
dc.contributor.authorCampos, Alberto A
dc.contributor.authorGregr, Edward J.
dc.contributor.authorMcKechnie, Iain
dc.contributor.authorChan, Kai M.A.
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-01T12:51:52Z
dc.date.available2022-04-01T12:51:52Z
dc.date.copyright2021en_US
dc.date.issued2021-08-08
dc.description.abstractAim: The global decline of megafauna is believed to have had significant and widespread ecological impacts. One such extinction of likely important consequence is the 18th century extinction of the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas); however, little has been written about how the loss of this megaherbivore may have impacted coastal ecosystem dynamics. Drawing on historical evidence, sea cow biology, kelp forest ecology, and the ecology of extant sirenians, we propose several discrete hypotheses about the effects Steller’s sea cows may have had on kelp forest dynamics of the North Pacific. Location: North Pacific Ocean. Time period: Pre-1760s. Major taxa studied: Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). Results & conclusions: The evidence we review suggests that Steller’s sea cows exerted substantial direct and indirect influences on kelp forests, likely affecting the physical ecosystem structure, productivity, nutrient cycling, species interactions, and export of nutrients to surrounding ecosystems. This suggests that kelp forest dynamics and resilience were already significantly altered prior to the influence of more recent and well-known stressors, such as industrial fishing and climate change, and illustrates the important ecological roles that are lost with megafaunal extinction.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.identifier.citationBullen, Cameron D., Alberto A. Campos, Edward J. Gregr, Iain McKechnie, and Kai M.A. Chan 2021 The ghost of a giant – Six hypotheses for how an extinct megaherbivore structured kelp forests across the North Pacific Rim. Global Ecology and Biogeography 30(10):2101-2118.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13370
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13817
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherGlobal Ecology and Biogeographyen_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/*
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Anthropology
dc.titleThe ghost of a giant – Six hypotheses for how an extinct megaherbivore structured kelp forests across the North Pacific Rimen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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