As the ocean warms due to climate change, the Gulf of Maine is changing rapidly — including on the reef. Researchers are watching native kelp forests die back as invasive red turf algae takes up more and more underwater real estate.
Now, a team of scientists at the University of Maine and Bigelow Labs are taking a look at how the bacterial makeup of the ecosystem is changing alongside the vegetation. Shane Farrell is the lead author of the study, published this week in PNAS.
"We've seen these really broad, large-scale changes happening with the seaweed on the reef, and we wanted to understand how that changes the chemical and microbial environment. Kind of these unseen players in ecosystems that are that are very important," Farrell said.
Scientists don't yet know how the changing microbial environment will impact resilience or recovery of kelp forests. But Farrell says this study sets the stage for further research. Kelp forests are an important foundation for the marine food web in the Gulf of Maine.
"Microbes are one of the kind of big energetic engines in these ecosystems, in marine systems, in terrestrial systems around the world, and how microbes change can affect the health of these ecosystems," Farrell says.
The study highlights the cascading impacts of this habitat change, which could ultimately affect the services these ecosystems provide, for both underwater species like fish, and the humans who rely on them.
The researcher say the study lays the foundation for further research into how warming waters due to climate change are impacting underwater ecosystems at the foundational level.
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