Disturbance and nutrients synchronise kelp forests across scales through interacting Moran effects. (30th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Castorani, Max C. N.; Bell, Tom W.; Walter, Jonathan A.; Reuman, Daniel C.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Sheppard, Lawrence W.
• Is Part Of: Ecology letters. Volume 25:Number 8(2022)
• Page Start: 1854
• Page End: 1868
• Publication Date: 2022-06-30
• Subjects: coherence -- disturbance -- Moran effect -- nitrate -- North Pacific Gyre Oscillation -- oceanography -- population dynamics -- remote sensing -- spatial synchrony -- wavelet transforms; Ecology -- Periodicals; 577
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.14066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-023X

Abstract

Abstract: Spatial synchrony is a ubiquitous and important feature of population dynamics, but many aspects of this phenomenon are not well understood. In particular, it is largely unknown how multiple environmental drivers interact to determine synchrony via Moran effects, and how these impacts vary across spatial and temporal scales. Using new wavelet statistical techniques, we characterised synchrony in populations of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, a widely distributed marine foundation species, and related synchrony to variation in oceanographic conditions across 33 years (1987–2019) and >900 km of coastline in California, USA. We discovered that disturbance (storm‐driven waves) and resources (seawater nutrients)—underpinned by climatic variability—act individually and interactively to produce synchrony in giant kelp across geography and timescales. Our findings demonstrate that understanding and predicting synchrony, and thus the regional stability of populations, relies on resolving the synergistic and antagonistic Moran effects of multiple environmental drivers acting on different timescales. Abstract : Spatial synchrony is a ubiquitous feature of population dynamics, but it is largely unknown how multiple environmental drivers interact to determine synchrony via Moran effects, and how these impacts vary across spatial and temporal scales. Using new wavelet statistical techniques, we characterized synchrony in populations of giant kelp, a widely distributed marine foundation species, and related synchrony to variation in oceanographic conditions. We discovered that disturbance and resources—underpinned by climatic variability—act individually and interactively to produce synchrony across geography and timescales, demonstrating that predicting regional population stability relies on resolving the synergistic and antagonistic Moran effects of multiple environmental drivers acting on different timescales.