Vocabulary: » Term: » Records: » ID: 269

Click image to see larger image	Kelp forest
Location	http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/habitat/FishAtlas/habitats.htm
Observations	This brown kelp is abundant and exposed along the coast of the sea at low tide.
Explanations	When herbivore populations are adequately controlled by marine mammals such as sea otters, kelp thrives and grows to the lush kelp forest present in this image.
California Standards	Ecosystems
National Standards	Human impact
Related NSF Exemplary Curriculum	Balance and flux
Related Sets	Loss of sea otters, loss of kelp forests
Creative Commons License	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License.
Authors	Katie Hale khale92807@aol.com Biological Sciences, CSUF
Publisher	NOAA Jun 26 2007

This material is based upon work that was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0127164 to California State University Fullerton. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.