Data from: Hurricane-mediated defoliation of kelp beds and pulsed delivery of kelp detritus to offshore sedimentary habitats

Severe storm events are important agents of disturbance that can transport large quantities of algal detritus from highly productive kelp beds (or forests) in shallow water to deeper, more food-limited areas. We measured canopy cover in shallow kelp beds (5 to 15 m depth) and the cover of detrital kelp in sedimentary habitats directly offshore of these beds (20 to 45 m) before and after Hurricane Earl, which struck the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia in September 2010. The storm resulted in large losses of kelp canopy cover (from 71.0 to 38.7%, averaged across sites) and significantly increased the cover of detrital kelp deposits below the kelp beds (from 1.5 to 3.4%). Detrital deposits were more commonly found in a semi-protected bay than off an exposed headland and persisted in the bay for at least 6 wk. Sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis were associated with detrital kelp deposits in offshore habitats. At sites with the greatest amount of detrital kelp, we estimated that sea urchins could consume this material within 2 mo, indicating that storm-generated detrital pulses may be an important form of trophic connectivity between adjacent ecosystems off this coast.强风暴是重要的生态扰动因子，可将浅水区高生产力海带床（或海带林）中的大量藻类碎屑搬运至更深、食物资源更为匮乏的区域。本研究针对2010年9月侵袭新斯科舍省大西洋沿岸的厄尔飓风（Hurricane Earl），分别在飓风前后测量了浅海海带床（水深5~15 m）的冠层覆盖率，以及该海带床外侧紧邻的沉积型生境（水深20~45 m）中的海带碎屑覆盖率。此次飓风导致海带冠层覆盖率大幅下降——所有样点平均从71.0%降至38.7%，同时显著提升了海带床下方海域的海带碎屑沉积覆盖率，从1.5%升至3.4%。相较于裸露岬角外侧海域，半封闭海湾内的海带碎屑沉积更为常见，且在该海湾中至少留存了6周。近海生境中的海带碎屑沉积与紫球海胆（Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis）存在密切关联。在海带碎屑存量最高的样点中，研究估算海胆可在2个月内将该碎屑完全消耗，这表明风暴驱动的碎屑脉冲可能是该沿岸相邻生态系统间营养连通的重要途径。