KELP FORESTS : PARTNERSHIP FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES OF COASTAL OCEANS (PISCO) FOUR CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITIES INVOLVED IN LONG TERM RESEARCH

 PISCO; KELP FORESTS

Excerpts: Much of the extraordinary production of kelp falls to the ocean floor, like leaf litter in terrestrial forests.  There, it either remains to support productive and species rich detritus-based forest food webs, or is exported by currents to adjacent ecosystems where it fuels food webs on sandy beaches, deep rocky reefs or submarine canyons.  Among the many species that inhabit kelp forests are a wide variety of economically important species such as sea urchins, abalone, lobster, sea cucumbers, rockfishes and other finishes, as well as s endangered species including abalone and southern sea otters.  The kept itself is harvested to feed abalone in aquaculture facilities and for use in a number of human products.  The forests also support economically important eco-tourism, including kayaking, bird and marine mammal watching and scuba diving.

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PISCO was established in 1999  by scientists from four core campuses,  Oregon State University, Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Clarify Santa Barbara.

PYTOPLANKTON and ZOOPLANKTON are BIOLOGICAL PUMPS OF THE OCEAN

AMAGEST : NEW STUDY FINDS HOW OCEANS ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, analyzed data of ocean life and observed how the organic matters are used in producing carbon dioxide inside water.
Director of the Earth Research Institute at University of California, Oceanographer David Siegel, and his colleagues analyzed the role of excrement from phytoplankton and zooplankton.

Pytoplankton and zooplankton are tiny little animals placed at the bottom of the food chain.

The new study is published in the Global Biogeochemical Cycles journal titled as “Global assessment of ocean carbon export by combining satellite observations and food-web models.”

Researchers say the biological pump of the ocean export organic carbon into the deep ocean from the upper part through sinking particulate matter and mostly from the zooplankton feces and aggregates of algae.

US SANTA BARBARA STUDENT LOOSES LEG TO SHARK

Shark sightings reportedly are common off Surf Beach.

"Surfers like the area, especially on a day like today when the break is head high and smooth. But they say they see sharks," Clay Garland, head ranger at Jalama Beach, told the Times.