SBC LTER: Kelp blade characteristics to support turnover dynamics of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera in the Santa Barbara Channel

These data describe the age-specific changes in the size and related traits of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) blades in the Santa Barbara Channel (Isla Vista Reef) during the spring and summer of 2012-2013. Data are contained in three tables: 1) a time series of change in blade size with age due to growth and senescence for blades growing at different depths and locations in the kelp forest, 2) physical traits of blades (biomass density, nitrogen, chlorophyll a) of different ages collected at different depths and locations in the kelp forest, and 3) photosynthetic performance (Pmax, alpha) of blades of different ages collected at different depths and locations in the kelp forest. These data were used to test whether spatial variation in the turnover dynamics of giant kelp blades could be could be explained by leaf life span theory developed for higher plants. The data were also used in a mathematical model of frond growth and senescence to investigate the relative and absolute magnitude of blade senescence in a kelp forest, and to examine how these losses were affected by light availability. Analyses using these data were published in Rodriguez, G. E. 2014. Turnover dynamics of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara. ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2014. 3682967.