CIRP Research Papers and Seminars

INVASIVE   SEAWEED   SURVEYS                            

Introduced species are a rising concern in the marine environment as shipping and recreational boating increase the likelihood of transporting species to new areas, possibly resulting in major ecological changes.  One such species is the Japanese kelp (Undaria pinnatifidia).  This brown algae is native to the waters around Japan, China, and Korea.  It is a commercially valuable seaweed also known as wakame.  It's mild flavor makes it a popular ingredient in traditional Japanese cooking such as in miso soup.  Undaria became an invasive species on the California coast when it was found growing in Los Angeles Harbor (2000) and Monterey Harbor (2001).  It was first reported off Catalina Island in Buttonshell Cove, just east of Long Point in 2001.  Initially it was found primarily on the deep sandy bottom at depths of 60 to 90 feet, intermixed with Laminaria and Palagophycus.  Susequently Undaria has been found on the rocky west side of the cove in water as shallow as 9 feet inside the Macrocystis kelpbed.  The CIRP program removed 132 plants in the summer of 2001 from the deep sand in Buttonshell Cove.  92% of the plants were adults bearing sporophylls.  The CIRP program has gone back at least once a year since then to survey and remove plants.  In the spring of 2005 CIRP found no Undaria plants in the deep sand, but removed 234 plants from the kelpbed.  Only 8 were adult plants.  Despite this removal effort, we predicted this annual Japanese kelp is likely to return each spring, growing from spores released during summer.

   For further information:

Miller, Kathy Ann. 2002 "California Faces Another Foreign Invader:
Wakame Hits Our Coast".  "Outdoor California" 63(1):4-8 [note: underwater photos
identified as Undaria are incorrect, topside photos are OK]

Miller, Kathy Ann. 2004. "California's Non-Native Seaweeds".
"Fremontia" 

STOMATOPOD  STUDY

Since 1984 a population of stomatopods (Hemisquilla ensigera californiensis) on Catalina Island has been studied.  For many years the population was monitored quarterly, but now it is visited on an annual basis.  Also known as giant mantis shrimp, this crustacean digs burrows in stable muddy-sand habitats.  Behavior, growth rates, recruitment, and reproduction are some of the aspects of this animal's biology being investigated.

For further information:

Basch, LV and JM Engle. 1993. "Biogeography of Hemisquilla ensigera  
californiensis (Crustacea: Stomatopoda) with emphasis on Southern 
California Bight populations" IN: Third California Islands Symposium: 
Recent Advances in Research on the California Islands, Santa Barbara
 Museum of Natural History, pp. 211-220

SEA URCHIN BARRENS STUDY

Since 1981 a sea urchin barrens on Anacapa Island has been monitored annually.  Quantitative data from permanent transects at different depths is collected including density, size-frequency, and gut/gonad weights for red (Stongylocentrotus franciscanus), purple (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), and white (Lytechinus amamesus) urchins.  Densities of urchins reach as high as 80 individuals in a quarter meter quadrat.  Also monitored are densities of macroscopic algae and associated benthic invertebrates.  One invertebrate whose recruitment may be enhanced by removal of macroalgae by urchins is the orange cup coral Balanophyllia elegans.  Field experiments using artificial algae were done to compare growth and survival of this coral in the presence and absence of macroalgae.

For further information:

Ambrose, RF, JM Engle, JA Coyer, and BV Nelson. 1993. "Changes in urchin 
and kelp densities at Anacapa Island, California" IN Third California
 Islands Symposium: Recent Advances in Research on the California Islands,
 Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, pp. 199-209.

Coyer, JA, RF Ambrose, JM Engle, and JC Carroll. 1993.  "Interactions 
between corals and algae on a temperature zone rocky reef: mediation 
by sea urchins".  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 
 167(1):21-37.

EEL  GRASS  STUDY

Eel grass (Zostera spp.) forms extensive beds that are recognized as valuable shallow-water soft-bottom 
habitats worldwide.  These flowering plants are important in stabilizing sediments, cycling nutrients, and providing food and cover for a host of marine organisms.  But because the beds are located in shallow water, they could be significantly impacted should there be an oil spill.  Surveys have been made on most of the Channel Islands to identify the location and size of beds.  At select sites, permanent transects were established to track the size of the bed, density of plants, and the quantity of associated invertebrates and fishes.  Since the project started in 1991, the disappearance of  beds on Anacapa Island has been documented.  In one case it is likely that a bed was destroyed by large numbers of white urchin, Lytechinus pictus.  A new bed was found  in Big Fisherman's Cove on Catalina Island that was clearly not present 20 years ago when the area was heavily used by divers from the marine lab located in the cove.  A pilot transplantation project is underway to test the feasibility of re-establishing eel grass beds at sites that historically have had them.  The project is a cooperative effort with Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper and the NOAA Fisheries' Community-Based Restoration Program.

For further information:

Eelgrass Restoration At Frenchy's Cove, Anacapa

ELK KELP PROJECT

Another CIRP project in cooperation with Jim Coyer, Kathy Ann Miller, and others involves investigation of the systematics, distribution, and ecology of the unusual deepwater elk kelp, Pelagophycus porra.  Elk kelp is found in northern Baja and southern California, including the Channel Islands, where it grows from depths of 60 to at least 150 feet.  Plants can be over 100 feet tall, held up by a single large float from which sprout antlers, each bearing a wide blade stretching out 20-60 feet.  Two variants exist that once were considered separate species.   Tall plants with small holdfasts attached to rock and blades held high up in the water column by a highly buoyant float are characteristic of mainland elk kelp.  Relatively short plants with wider holdfasts attached to worm tubes on sand bottoms and blades drooped to substrate (because the float is not buoyant enough to hold the plant erect) are characteristic of the island elk kelp.  But mainland forms have now been found on several of the Channel Islands.  It is unclear whether these two forms are sheltered versus exposed condition morphs of the same species or are truly distinct species.  To add confusion, strange-looking hybrids between elk kelp and giant kelp at Catalina and San Clemente Islands have been found.

For further information:

Kathy Ann Miller & Harold W. Dorr. 1994. "Natural history of mainland and
island populations of deep water elk kelp Pelagophycus (Laminariales, Phaeophyta)
: how many species?"  IN: Fourth California Island Symposium: Update on
the Status of  Resources, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, pp. 59-70.

Miller,K.A. et. al. 2000.  "Genetic Divergence correlates with morphological and ecological
subdivision in the deep-water elk kelp, Pelagophycus porra (Phaeophyceae)".  Journal of Phycology.
36(5):862-870.

ECHINODERM  WASTING  DISEASE:

Periodically during warm-water years since 1978, a wasting disease has devastated populations of shallow-water echinoderms in southern California.  Its impact on sea stars is most pronounced, but it also affects brittle stars and sea cucumbers.  This highly contagious disease apparently is caused by a bacterium of the genus Vibrio.  After widespread echinoderm losses were observed during the 1982-83 El Nino, 9 permanent transects were established at Catalina Island to monitor sea star numbers and health.  These transects have been visited every spring since 1984.  Sea star populations are also monitored each summer at the urchin barrens study sit on Anacapa Island.

For further information:

Engle, Jack. 1997. "Near shore El Nino effects: disturbance and renewal."
Alolkoy 10(4):6.

IMPACT OF EL NINO ON THE CHANNEL ISLANDS:

The 1983-1984 and the 1997-1998 El Nino events were two of the strongest on record with some of the highest temperature anomalies ever recorded.  The warm waters brought along a host of new and unusual tropical and subtropical fishes and invertebrates that were documented by CIRP divers.  Species new to California include species such as the pink cardinal fish (Apogon padificus), the ornate fireworm (Chloeia viridis), the panamic arrow crab (Stenorhynchus debilis), and the galactic sea slug (Chromodoris galexorum).  Species previously found in California but new to the Channel Islands include the Pacific wing-oyster (Pteria sterna), and the stinging sea anemone (Bunodeopsis sp.).  In other cases, species once limited to the southern islands Catalina and San Clemente were found on one or more of the northern islands.  Examples of these northern range extensions include the orangethroat pikeblenny (Chaenopsis alepidota) and the scythe butterflyfish (Chaetodon falcifer).

For further information:

Richards, Daniel V. and John M. Engle. 2001. "New and Unusual Reef Fish Discovered at the California Channel Islands during the 1997-1998 El Nino. "Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 100(3):175-195.

Engle, John M. and Daniel V. Richards. 2001. "New and Unusual Marine Invertibrates Discovered at the California Channel Islands during the 1997-1998 El Nino. "Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 100(3): 185-198.