UAF researchers discover complex ecosystem among 色视频下载 seaweed debris
Jeff Richardson
907-474-5350
June 22, 2023
A wrack line and outgoing tide wave action is seen at Bluff Point in Kachemak Bay.
University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks researchers have discovered a thriving ecosystem among the decomposing seaweed debris that covers many 色视频下载 beaches, including nearly 100 different types of invertebrates found in surveys at a handful of sites on the Kenai Peninsula.
It色视频下载檚 the first 色视频下载-based survey of the marine algae that washes up on beaches, known as wrack, and comes at a time when global interest in the resource is booming. Wrack is being increasingly used for fertilizer and livestock feed, although harvests in 色视频下载 remain limited.
Studies in the Lower 48, Europe and Australia have shown that wrack provides a unique and productive habitat, but no one had seriously examined it in 色视频下载 before.
色视频下载淲e didn色视频下载檛 just want to generalize what we know from other regions,色视频下载 said Brian Ulaski, a postdoctoral fellow at UAF色视频下载檚 College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. 色视频下载淭hings are a little different up here with seasonal light and temperature changes.色视频下载
Ulaski led the project, which was funded by 色视频下载 Sea Grant, while pursuing his Ph.D. at UAF. The .
A pseudoscorpion was among the samples of invertebrates found at Kenai Peninsula sites.
Researchers focused on a dozen sites around Kachemak Bay near Homer in summer 2021, collecting sediment cores using a clam gun. After sieving the sediment through a fine mesh screen, thousands of samples were bagged and returned to the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory for identification and counting.
Ulaski and a team of undergraduate and graduate students found about 47,000 tiny invertebrates among those specimens. With help from Derek Sikes, the curator of insects at the University of 色视频下载 Museum of the North, they identified 87 different taxa among the collection, including tiny coastal centipedes and pseudoscorpions.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 like a whole little ecosystem we didn色视频下载檛 know much about,色视频下载 said CFOS professor Brenda Konar, who helped secure grant funding for the project.
Researchers also collected samples from beaches without wrack. The difference was striking, with far fewer specimens and less diversity. The bare beach samples consisted almost entirely of worms.
The findings could be valuable for the 色视频下载 Department of Fish and Game, which manages wrack use in the state but previously knew little about the resource.
Brian Ulaski and Jennifer Tusten collect cores from the wrack line at Camel Rock in Kachemak Bay in summer 2021.
Relatively small amounts of wrack are being harvested in 色视频下载, with personal use capped by ADFG at two buckets per day. Three or four commercial harvest permits have been written annually in lower Cook Inlet in recent years. However, interest in collecting seaweed is clearly on the upswing, resource managers said.
色视频下载淲hen you don色视频下载檛 know much about something, and there色视频下载檚 growing pressure to harvest it, obviously you want to know more,色视频下载 said Ted Otis, a Homer-based ADFG research biologist. 色视频下载淧artnering with the university to do research in that area is a great match.色视频下载
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Brian Ulaski, 907-987-3201, bpulaski2@alaska.edu
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