The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests

Aaron M. Eger (), Ezequiel M. Marzinelli, Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Caitlin O. Blain, Laura K. Blamey, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Paul E. Carnell, Chang Geun Choi, Margot Hessing-Lewis, Kwang Young Kim, Naoki H. Kumagai, Julio Lorda, Pippa Moore, Yohei Nakamura, Alejandro Pérez-Matus, Ondine Pontier, Dan Smale, Peter D. Steinberg and Adriana Vergés
Additional contact information
Aaron M. Eger: University of New South Wales
Ezequiel M. Marzinelli: School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Rodrigo Beas-Luna: Facultad de Ciencias Marinas
Caitlin O. Blain: University of Auckland
Laura K. Blamey: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Environment
Jarrett E. K. Byrnes: University of Massachusetts Boston
Paul E. Carnell: Deakin University
Chang Geun Choi: Pukyong National University
Margot Hessing-Lewis: Hakai Institute
Kwang Young Kim: Chonnam National University
Naoki H. Kumagai: National Institute for Environmental Studies
Julio Lorda: Facultad de Ciencias, Ensenada, BC, Mexico & The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
Pippa Moore: Aberystwyth University
Yohei Nakamura: Kochi University
Alejandro Pérez-Matus: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Ondine Pontier: Hakai Institute
Dan Smale: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Peter D. Steinberg: University of New South Wales
Adriana Vergés: University of New South Wales

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract While marine kelp forests have provided valuable ecosystem services for millennia, the global ecological and economic value of those services is largely unresolved. Kelp forests are diminishing in many regions worldwide, and efforts to manage these ecosystems are hindered without accurate estimates of the value of the services that kelp forests provide to human societies. Here, we present a global estimate of the ecological and economic potential of three key ecosystem services - fisheries production, nutrient cycling, and carbon removal provided by six major forest forming kelp genera (Ecklonia, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, Nereocystis, and Saccharina). Each of these genera creates a potential value of between $64,400 and $147,100/hectare each year. Collectively, they generate between $465 and $562 billion/year worldwide, with an average of $500 billion. These values are primarily driven by fisheries production (mean $29,900, 904 Kg/Ha/year) and nitrogen removal ($73,800, 657 Kg N/Ha/year), though kelp forests are also estimated to sequester 4.91 megatons of carbon from the atmosphere/year highlighting their potential as blue carbon systems for climate change mitigation. These findings highlight the ecological and economic value of kelp forests to society and will facilitate better informed marine management and conservation decisions.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37385-0

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