By Hope Lompe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter CANADA害羞草研究所橲 NATIONAL OBSERVER

Restoration of kelp forests lost to ocean heat waves and overgrazing sea urchins is underway off Vancouver Island害羞草研究所檚 coastlines with guidance from local researchers.

Experts from the University of Victoria have teamed up with the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on the project, known as the Kelp Rescue Initiative.

To kickstart their restoration work, divers are planting two species of canopy-forming kelp: one in Barkley Sound at the research centre in Bamfield, and the other at multiple locations around Hornby and Denman Island with support from Vancouver Island University害羞草研究所檚 Deep Bay Marine Field Station.

Kelp forests are quickly declining around the world from a combination of sea urchin predation and warming ocean temperatures due to climate change. This was further exacerbated during the ocean warming 害羞草研究所渂lob害羞草研究所� event between 2014 to 2016, said Jasmin Schuster, the initiative害羞草研究所檚 program manager.

In the last seven years, the Kelp Rescue Initiative (KRI) reports up to 95 percent of these dense brown-seaweed forests, which make up the canopy-forming algae that can grow from the seafloor all the way to the water害羞草研究所檚 surface, have disappeared in areas off North America害羞草研究所檚 west coast.

Kelp loss has devastating effects on marine ecosystems. In addition to providing habitat, shelter, food and biodiversity support for West Coast marine species, kelp also contributes to oxygen production and CO2 absorption. A study published in Nature Communications last year also estimates kelp contributes $500 billion annually to the global economy.

Researchers believe the marine heat wave likely caused the die-off of the main predators of sea urchins that, in turn, graze on the seaweed 害羞草研究所� putting 害羞草研究所減ressure from a lot of angles,害羞草研究所� on the kelp, Schuster said.

The KRI is working on ways to keep sea urchins out of research fields, including putting fences and cages around their restoration areas. However, this can only be done on a small scale, and not at the level required to keep urchins away. The team is also talking to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), sea urchin harvesters and Indigenous communities about solutions to sea urchin management 害羞草研究所� like eating more of them.

Polluted waters and record snow melt earlier in the year have also contributed to the kelp decline, adds Timothy Green, research chair for shellfish health and genomics at the Deep Bay Marine Field Station.

害羞草研究所淪o you害羞草研究所檝e got this organism that reproduces at roughly the same time every year. But now it害羞草研究所檚 getting hit with this freshwater lens and really warm water earlier in the season, and that害羞草研究所檚 another big driver of why we害羞草研究所檙e starting to lose these kelp populations,害羞草研究所� Green said.

The project team is also trying to understand why some pockets of kelp have survived, and if they can be transferred into other areas where it has been lost, he explained.

害羞草研究所淲hy is that? Is it because of their genetics, and their phenotypes enable them to grow in these warmer, more acidic changed environments? Or are they just lucky? I think that害羞草研究所檚 the big question at the present moment that is trying to be answered,害羞草研究所� Green said.

The Kelp Research Initiative is in the second year of the four-year project. It is led by Julia Baum of UVic and Sean Rogers, director of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and supported by a $3.68 million research grant from the DFO under the Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Fund.

The project is now scaling up efforts to move kelp plants out of facility nurseries into coastal waters. The researchers are experimenting with different ways of achieving this, including developing a kelp 害羞草研究所済lue,害羞草研究所� to prevent new plants from being washed out to sea.

Eventually the team hopes to create a guidebook for the restoration project to be replicated on a larger scale in the region. They also have recruited a First Nations liaison to understand what Indigenous communities value about kelp and how they can get involved and benefit.

The team also plans to expand the project north to Comox next year.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 perhaps the most challenging place to restore because it害羞草研究所檚 the hottest place all around Vancouver Island and this in this region,害羞草研究所� said Schuster.

害羞草研究所淭he temperatures are almost the same as California, which is nuts if you think about that,害羞草研究所� Schuster said.

Ultimately, the team hopes to provide tools and documents to support local community-based kelp forest restoration, before it害羞草研究所檚 too late.

害羞草研究所淲hat we害羞草研究所檙e really trying to avoid is that phase shift where, once upon a time, we had a certain ecosystem, and now it害羞草研究所檚 completely changed. That害羞草研究所檚 the fear to me,害羞草研究所� Green said.

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