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Award: OCE-1736957
Award Title: Collaborative Research: Evaluating how abalone populations in the California Current are structured by the interplay of large-scale oceanographic forcing and nearshore variability
In this project we found how kelp forests modify shelf currents. This is an example in which biology affects physics. Specifically, we confirmed one and discovered two salient phenomena: \ 1. Kelp forests attenuate the ambient shelf flow. 2. Kelp forests promote ‘flow ducting’, in which coastal flows are channelized through kelp gaps, concentrated in bands <30 m wide, and kept away from the morphological influences of a headland. 3. In the absence of kelp forests around a coastline headland, the pumping to the surface of cold, nutrient-rich subsurface waters (upwelling), proceeds unimpeded. In contrast, kelp forests surrounding a headland impede the upwelling process through flow ducting. This flow ducting is analogous to the tortuous flow through porous media. In addition to the discovery of flow-ducting by kelps and suppressing upwelling, we have contributed to training of graduate students and to scientific diplomacy. The project facilitated the participation of Braulio Juarez, a graduate student at the University of Florida in the project’s data collection experiences. After earning his PhD, Braulio was hired as a professor at the University of Baja California, where scientific exchanges continue through his involvement and that of his graduate student from Costa Rica, Alexandre Tisseaux. Moreover, the project involved the participation of Leonardo Tenorio, a researcher at the National Polytechnic Institute’s Marine Science Laboratory in La Paz, Baja California Sur. Similarly, interactions with Leonardo have continued and also involve his graduate students from different parts of Latin America. Last Modified: 02/08/2023 Submitted by: Maitane Olabarrieta Lizaso