You are on page 1of 24

A

Mathema)cal Model for Es)ma)on of Kelp Bed Produc)vity: Age Dependence and Contribu)ons of Subsurface Kelp

Samantha Trumbo

Cornell University Astronomy, Biology 13

Professor: Dr. R. M. Kudela Mentor: Dr. S. L. Palacios

Kelp Is Ecologically Important


Major primary producer Provides habitat for many coastal species Supports an en)re microbial food web Understanding of kelp produc)vity is essen)al for understanding biogeochemistry of coastal region

Exis)ng Methods: Biomass as an Indicator of Produc)vity


NPP (g dry mass m -2d-1)

Diver surveys (costly, episodic, )me-consuming) Empirical Model Using Remote Sensing Techniques NDVI Macrocys(s pyrifera (giant kelp) Op)cal BAI = NDVI/0.71 NPP = 14.7 x Standing Crop 40 True BAI = Op)cal BAI * 9.04 a. R = 0.623 P < 0.0001 Biomass = True BAI/13.3 30 Produc)vity = Biomass * 14.7
2

(Zimmerman 2007)

20 10 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Standing crop (kg m )

-2

2.0

Exis)ng Methods: First Principles


Zimmerman Seagrass Produc)vity Model
Model based on rst principles of ocean op)cs Es)mates produc)vity of seagrass beds based on the underwater light eld and biological parameters of seagrass

Research Objec)ves
Develop a kelp produc)vity model by modifying the Zimmerman seagrass model Inves)gate eects of environmental parameters on produc)vity Develop a depth-integrated model to improve on conven)onal produc)vity es)mates of en)re beds
Spectral dierences among juvenile, mature, and senescent )ssues Photosynthe)c contribu)ons of subsurface kelp PAR Acenua)on Method PUR Acenua)on Method

Inves)gate simpler, cheaper methods of approxima)ng produc)vity

Research Design

Data Collec)on

C-OPS : Upwelling radiance and ASD: Surface reectance downwelling irradiance *Thank you to Biospherical Instruments Inc. of San Diego for providing us with C-OPS

Modied Seagrass Model


Original: Modied:

Original: Zimmerman 2006 Pmax , p : Zimmerman, personal correspondence

Spectral Dierences of Tissue Types


Absorptance (Corrected for non-specific absorptances)
1

M
0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4
immature

M I I I I I I S S M M S S

Absorptance

S S

0.3
mature

0.2 0.1 0 400 450

senescent

500

Wavelength (nm)

550

600

650

700

750

800

Data and photo courtesy of Dr. Richard Zimmerman

Increased Acenua)on and Importance of Subsurface Kelp


Insignicant beneath canopy, but what about edges?
Canopy Prole Edge Prole

Increased acenua)on!

Submerged kelp at 4m is about half as produc)ve as surface kelp!

Depth-Integrated Model

Produc)vity of main canopy Subsurface edge contribu)ons

Red = User inputs: Surface area, subsurface area, subsurface depth prole Blue = Predened composi)on, but user may change based on characteris)cs of the specic bed Black = Predened func)ons as derived from HydrolightTM simula)ons of varying condi)ons and implementa)on of kelp produc)vity model

Case Study: Isla Vista Kelp Bed


NDVI Surface Area
Input into depth-integrated model Surface Area = 598,808 m2

Current method uses NDVI and series of empirical rela)onships to es)mate produc)vity
*Thanks to James Allen for making these es)mates possible with his images and his project!

Isla Vista: Age Composi)ons and Subsurface

4.17% increase over es)mates excluding subsurface kelp

Can Produc)vity Be Simply Approximated?


Shape of downwelling visible irradiance spectrum stays roughly constant with depth

PAR vs. PUR


Moorings measure PAR (photosynthe)cally available radia)on) and Kd (the downwelling acenua)on constant) Beers Law to es)mate depth-integrated produc)vity
PAR Acenua)on Method

PUR Acenua)on Method

For the rst 2 m of a kelp bed, PUR amounts to about 56.3% of PAR, on average.

1.470 x 107 g C/day

1.1608 x 107 g C /day

Higher es)mates than Higher es)mates by new model by ~61%! only ~27% ~3% lower if only consider surface

Whole Bed Produc)vity Results


Method Empirical Remote Sensing Method Depth-Integrated Model with Subsurface and Age Composi)on PAR Acenua)on Model PUR Acenua)on Model Bed Produc)vity (g DW/day) 3.0978 x 106 3.1282 x 107 High

5.0501 x 107 3.9851 x 107

Eects of Tissue Varia)on All Mature Kelp Tissue Varia)on Percent Decrease 9.25 x 106 g C/day 8.27 x 106 g C/day 10.59%

Low

Conclusions

Mature kelp is the most produc)ve


With separa)on of )ssue produc)vity being enhanced in light- limited environments

Quicker acenua)on in canopy than previously thought Edge subsurface kelp and spectral dierences in )ssue types can be signicant for bed produc)vity Approxima)on of bed produc)vity solely from mooring- measured quan))es may be possible Current method gives lower total bed es)mates

Acknowledgements

Dr. Sherry Palacios Dr. Raphael Kudela Dr. Emily Schaller Rick Shecer Rick Paseco Dr. Richard Zimmerman Jacey Wipf James Allen Barbara Chisholm All of my fellow Aquaknots Adam Webster Na)onal Suborbital Educa)on and Research Center (NSERC)

Jerey Myers Karen Katrinak Gregory Harc Shane Grigsby Nicole Grossberg Eric Buzay Jane Peterson The ight crew for the P-3 Roseanne Dominguez Dennis Gearhart James Jacobson The NASA Airborne Science Program

Any ques)ons?

References

[1] Reed DC, Rassweiler A, Arkema KK (2009) Density derived es)mates of standing crop and net primary produc)on in the giant kelp Macrocys(s pyrifera. Mar Biol 156: 20772083 [2] Zimmerman, Richard C. "Remote Sensing Assessment of Kelp Forest and Seagrass Meadow Produc)vity." UNOLS Airborne Ocean Science Conference. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA. 25 May 2006. Lecture. [3] Mobley, C. D. "Radia)ve Transfer in the Ocean." Academic Press (2001): Sequoia Scien)c Inc. Web. [4] Mobley, Cur)s D. Light and Water: Radia(ve Transfer in Natural Waters. San Diego: Academic, 1994. Print. [5] Mobley, Cur)s D., and Lydia K. Sundman. Hydrolight 5 User's Guide. Bellevue, WA: Sequoia Scien)c, 2008. Web. [6] Biospherical Instruments Inc. C-OPS: Compact Op(cal Proling System. San Diego, CA: Biospherical Instruments, 2011. Web. [7] Cavanaugh, Kyle C., David A. Siegel, Brian P. Kinlan, and Daniel C. Reed. "Scaling Giant Kelp Field Measurements to Regional Scales Using Satellite Observa)ons." Marine Ecology Progress Series 403 (2010): 13-27. Print. [8] Hill, Victoria J., and Richard C. Zimmerman. "Es)mates of Primary Produc)on by Remote Sensing in the Arc)c Ocean: Assessment of Accuracy with Passive and Ac)ve Sensors." Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 57.10 (2010): 1243-254. Print. [9] Markager S, Vincent W (2001) Light absorp)on by phytoplankton: development of a matching parameter for algal photosynthesis under dierent spectral regimes. J Plankton Res 23: 13731384 [10] Marra, John, Cheng Ho, and Charles C. Trees. "An Alterna)ve Algorithm for the Calcula)on of Primary Produc)vity from Remote Sensing Data." LDEO Technical Report # LDEO-2003-1 (2003) Print. [11] Stoughton, Margaret A. "A Bio-Op)cal Model for Syringodium Filiforme Canopies." Thesis. Old Dominion University, 2009. Print. [12] Zimmerman, Richard C., W. Paul Bisset, and Daniel C. Reed. Bio-Op(cal Assessment of Giant Kelp Dynamics. N.d. Research Poster. [13] Atkinson, M. J. S., and V. Smith. "C:N:P Ra)os of Benthic Marine Plants." Limnology and Oceanography 28.3 (1983): 568-74. Print.

Future Work

In situ measurements of biomass depth proles for average kelp forest.


Could improve depth-integrated model predic)ons.

Kelp bed mooring for monitoring produc)vity. Applica)on of simplied models to other species.

Seagrass moorings

The Shape o f the Downwelling Irradiance Spectrum in a Kelp Bed Is Also Fairly Constant

Isla Vista No Subsurface

Post El Nio Subsurface Bed

You might also like