Five projects awarded over $5.8 million in funding to research how to restore California's vital kelp forests

California Sea Grant, in partnership with the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), will administer over $5.8 million in funding for five kelp research and restoration projects that will help resource managers develop scalable solutions to the current kelp crisis in California.

"Communities and ecosystems in California have been deeply affected by the recent loss of kelp," said Shauna Oh, director of California Sea Grant. "We are eager to help researchers better understand this issue to find viable solutions."

California’s iconic canopy-forming kelps, often referred to as the "sequoias of the sea," create large underwater forests that can tower over 100 feet in height. These forests play a crucial role in supporting marine life, serving as habitats for a diverse range of species, from microscopic  plankton to massive gray whales. Many of California's more than 300 commercially fished marine species frequently seek refuge and food within the sprawling canopy formations made by bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). Kelp forests are also a major attraction for many ocean-related recreational activities, such as birdwatching, scuba diving and recreational fishing, thanks to their stunning beauty and rich biodiversity.

From 2014 to 2019, about 95% of canopy-forming kelp disappeared along a 350-mile stretch of California’s north coast, specifically in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Some areas in the central and south coasts, including parts of the Channel Islands and the Monterey Peninsula, also saw more localized decreases in kelp cover. These persistent decreases are likely due to a combination of factors that included a record-breaking marine heatwave as well as a surge of purple sea urchins that eat kelp, after a disease had wiped out sunflower sea stars that used to help keep urchin numbers in check. 

These unprecedented declines in kelp cover have seriously affected coastal communities, leading to the collapse of fisheries, with further impacts to California Native American tribes. 

The five projects, which launch in 2024 and are funded for up to two years, will address key questions that need to be answered to protect and restore these vital underwater ecosystems. They include the best conditions and strategies to help kelp recover, understanding resilience to warming waters in kelp and understory algal species, and building capacity for members of California Native American tribes to monitor and restore kelp forests and associated species within tribal ancestral territories.

“This investment propels California towards innovative kelp restoration and management, combining scientific research and community partnerships to advance in-water restoration to conserve our state's iconic underwater forests in the face of a changing ocean,” says Pike Spector, Biodiversity Program Manager of the Ocean Protection Council.

OPC, CDFW and California Sea Grant have partnered on the kelp crisis since 2020, when the first research call was issued for “solutions-oriented” science projects to protect and restore kelp forests statewide. With the current research call California Sea Grant will contribute $220,000 to support the ongoing participation of undergraduate students from groups that are underrepresented and underserved in marine and coastal science. California Sea Grant is also leading the grant administration for all five projects. 

“This suite of projects provides an avenue for the State to take actionable steps to kelp recovery and resilience, while building a proactive, climate-ready plan for kelp across California’s dynamic coastline,” says Dr. Kristen Elsmore, Senior Specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

See below for more details about the funded projects.

A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO KELP RESTORATION IN CA: FORECASTING KELP LOSS AND OPTIMAL KELP RESTORATION TIMES

Project Lead: Jennifer Caselle (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Co-PIs: Anita Giraldo Ospina (University of California, Santa Barbara), Thomas Bell III (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Summary: Current efforts to restore kelp can only succeed if we understand the conditions kelps need to thrive. This project will create a forecasting tool for understanding future states of California’s kelp forests and to enable timely decision-making for kelp restoration. It also aims to identify monthly and seasonal factors in the environment that help or hinder kelp restoration. The project will develop tools that forecast the best timing and location for kelp restoration  — similar to the rainfall and temperature forecasting tools that farmers use to make strategic decisions about planting and harvesting crops.

EVALUATING A NOVEL KELP RESTORATION APPROACH AND THE CONDITIONS CONDUCIVE FOR KELP RECOVERY AND RESTORATION

Project Lead: Mark Carr (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Co-PIs: Sean Craig (Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation), Rietta Hohman (Greater Farallones Association), Brent Hughes (Sonoma State University), Joshua Smith (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Summary: This project will conduct two studies to evaluate a novel approach to restoring kelp communities and to identify the best environmental and ecological conditions for kelp restoration. In the first study, commercial and recreational divers will clear kelp grazers, such as red and purple urchins and the wavy turban snail, separately and in combination, along the perimeter of remnant kelp forests and study how this might help kelp forests recover and expand. This study will also evaluate how often such clearing efforts will need to be repeated and at what financial cost and diver effort. The second study will investigate the range of  water temperatures, locations and methods that are best suited to ensure restoration success — for example, if it is more effective to outplant new kelp or remove kelp grazers so existing kelp can proliferate.

Ghvtlh-k’vsh shu'-srnelh-'i~  (KELP GUARDIANS)

Project Lead: Rosa Laucci (Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation)

Co-PIs: Cutcha Risling Baldy (Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation), Jan Freiwald (Reef Check Foundation), Torre Poizzi (Sunken Seaweed LLC), Morgan V. Murphy-Cannella (Reef Check Foundation)

Summary: The recent decline of California’s ghvtlh-k’vsh (kelp) forests directly affects the cultural lifeways and thus health of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation. This project will train and certify up to ten Natural Resources Staff and Tribal Citizens of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation to conduct both kelp monitoring and restoration efforts, including establishing kelp nurseries and grow-out sites. These practices may serve as a template for other Indigenous tribes or organizations that want to develop kelp forest monitoring and restoration within their ancestral territories.

ACCELERATING BULL KELP ECOSYSTEM RECOVERY IN A RECENTLY DEFORESTED LOCATION IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY USING A STRATEGIC SEQUENCE OF RESTORATION TECHNIQUES & COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 

Project Lead: Tristin Anoush McHugh (The Nature Conservancy)

Co-PIs: Benjamin Grime (The Nature Conservancy), Joshua Smith (Monterey Bay Aquarium), Grant Downie (California Sea Urchin Commission and Commercial Urchin Harvester), Michael Springborn (University of California, Davis), Jan Freiwald (Reef Check Foundation), Marianna Leuschel (New Agency), Brent Hughes (Sonoma State University), Scott Hamilton (San Jose State University - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories)

Summary: This project aims to recover five acres of recently degraded bull kelp forest at Big River, Mendocino County, by deploying a strategic combination of kelp recovery solutions and providing community participation opportunities. The project will bring together thinkers from twelve organizations in a coordinated, interdisciplinary effort to truly scale and accelerate kelp recovery.

THERMAL TOLERANCE, POPULATION VARIABILITY AND EXPERIMENTAL RESTORATION IN KELP IN SOUTHERN CA

Project Lead: Jennifer Smith (UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

Co-PIs: Siobhan Braybrook (University of California, Los Angeles), Todd Michael (The Salk Institute for Biological Studies), Jules Jackson (Coastal Defenders), Mohammad Sedarat (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

Summary: The persistence of California’s kelp forests continue to be threatened by rising ocean temperatures and more frequent and intense marine heat waves, particularly in southern California where kelps experience some of the highest temperatures in their geographic distribution. This project will investigate variability in the thermal tolerance of six kelp species and the role that genetics plays in this. It will establish a seed bank and test how kelp survival and growth once outplanted relates to thermal tolerance.