Sources
The facts referenced across this site are drawn from the sources below, mainly government agencies, research institutions and peer-reviewed journals. Listed alphabetically by subject.
None of the news and research published on this website was created by The Kelp Collection. Each post is credited to its original authors or publishers. If any information has been incorrectly credited, please reach out to info@kelp.help.
B
- Bull Kelp die-off: urchin barren photographPaul Chetirkin / NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (public domain)
- Bull Kelp restoration: outplanting photographNOAA Fisheries / Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (public domain)
- Bull Kelp: die-off and urchin barrens (Sonoma-Mendocino)Rogers-Bennett, L. & Catton, C.A., "Marine heat wave and multiple stressors tip bull kelp forest to sea urchin barrens," Scientific Reports (2019)
- Bull Kelp: growth rate and rangeAquarium of the Pacific, "Bull Kelp," Marine Species Report Card
- Bull Kelp: photographJerry Kirkhart, "Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana)," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- Bull Kelp: restoration project (Greater Farallones)NOAA Fisheries, "Pioneering Project to Restore Bull Kelp Forests in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in California" (2024)
C
- California kelp farm approval: Ventura CountyTaxin, A., "California officials allow plans for the country's biggest kelp farm to move forward," Associated Press (2026)
- Carbon capacity: mapping Canada's kelp forestsMcHenry, J. et al., "A blueprint for national assessments of the blue carbon capacity of kelp forests applied to Canada's coastline," npj Ocean Sustainability (2025)
- Carbon capture: deep-sea kelp degradation studyBauer, K.W. et al., "In-situ deep ocean monitoring reveals rapid kelp degradation limits marine biomass-based carbon sequestration potential and alters benthic ecosystems," Communications Earth & Environment (2026)
- Carbon storage: global kelp forestsEger, A.M. et al., "The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests," Nature Communications (2023)
- Chile/Tasmania kelp chemistry study: university press releaseUniversidad de Los Lagos, "Estudio entre Chile y Tasmania revela cómo los bosques de huiro gigante modifican la química del agua de mar" (2026)
- Coastal kelp bed: aerial photographLaney White, USGS (public domain)
D
- Deep-sea ROV expedition photographNOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research / USGS (public domain)
E
- Ecosystem services value: global kelp forestsEger, A.M. et al., "The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests," Nature Communications (2023)
F
- Feather Boa Kelp: photographMasamage, "Feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii)," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Feather Boa Kelp: size and rangeNational Park Service, "Creature Feature: Feather Boa Kelp," Cabrillo National Monument
- Food & nutrition: seaweed and kelpHarvard Health Publishing, "Seaweed: A tasty, nutritious snack"
G
- Garibaldi in the kelp forest: home page photographAdam Obaza, NOAA NMFS West Coast Region, Goat Harbor, Santa Catalina Island (public domain)
- Giant Kelp canopy: Channel Islands photographClaire Fackler, NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CC BY 2.0)
- Giant kelp decline in Tasmania: Australian genome assembliesScharfenstein, H.J. et al., "Two Australian genome assemblies expand the genomic blueprint of giant kelp," BMC Genomics (2026)
- Giant kelp population genetics: Southern Hemisphere studyLiu, X.P., Alexander, A., Bax, N., Bond, D., Fraser, C.I., "Genomic analyses of giant kelp reveal restricted connectivity across the Southern Hemisphere and striking diversity in Aotearoa (New Zealand)," Journal of Phycology (2026)
- Giant Kelp: growth rate and sizeMonterey Bay Aquarium, "Giant Kelp"
- Giant Kelp: photographBravoGonzalo, "Bosque de Macrocystis pyrifera desde el aire," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Global kelp forest decline: rate and driversUN Environment Programme, "Seaweeds & Kelp"
H
- Huiro Kelp: growth rate and maricultureVásquez, J.A. et al., "Population biology and long-term mariculture studies in the brown alga Lessonia trabeculata in Atacama, Chile," Journal of Applied Phycology (2016)
- Huiro Kelp: photographDick Culbert, "Lessonia trabeculata," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
I
- Izu Peninsula kelp collapse (press release)University of Tsukuba, "Ocean Warming and Herbivorous Fish Grazing Drive Kelp Forest Collapse Along Japan's Izu Peninsula" (2026)
- Izu Peninsula kelp collapse: warming and herbivory studyHarvey, B.P., Takenaka, H., Shiel, M., Heitzman, J.M., Mitushasi, G., Iijima, L., Wada, S., Hama, T., King, N.G., Smale, D.A., Agostini, S., "Unprecedented Warming and Increased Herbivory Drive Collapse of Japan's Kelp Forests," Global Change Biology, 32, e71106 (2026)
K
- Kelp canopy mapping: British Columbia satellite radar studyKonik, M., Loos, E., Mora-Soto, A. et al., "Floating kelp forest mapping using spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar on the British Columbia coast," Ecological Informatics (2026)
- Kelp canopy mapping: Channel Islands satellite imageNASA Earth Observatory image by Mike Taylor and Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from USGS (public domain)
- Kelp carbon sequestration vs. restoration: global synthesisFilbee-Dexter, K., Pessarrodona, A., Krumhansl, K.A., Wernberg, T., "Seaweed carbon removal cannot keep up with climate-driven loss," PLOS Biology (2026)
- Kelp farm diver survey: Juneau photographNOAA Fisheries / Becca Cates (public domain)
- Kelp farming: aquaculture photographNOAA Fisheries / Megan Ewald (public domain)
- Kelp farming: Maine harvest growthGlobal Seafood Alliance, "Maine seaweed-farming network harvests a record 1.3 million pounds in 2024," Responsible Seafood Advocate (2025)
- Kelp farms and marine life: NOAA announcementNOAA Fisheries, "Kelp Farms and Marine Life Co-Exist in Southeast Alaska" (2026)
- Kelp farms and marine life: Southeast Alaska habitat studyHollarsmith, J.A., Cates, R., Valdes, L., Domke, L., Ledger, K.J., Baetscher, D.S., Bishop, A., Bayer, S., "Assessing the potential fish and macroinvertebrate habitat-provisioning services of kelp aquaculture in Southeast Alaska," Annals of Botany (2026)
- Kelp forest aerial photograph: Icy Strait, AlaskaAlaska ShoreZone Program, NOAA/NMFS/AFSC; courtesy of Mandy Lindeberg (public domain)
- Kelp forest biodiversity: Channel Islands photographRobert Schwemmer, NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (public domain)
- Kelp forest canopy: Monterey Bay photographNOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
- Kelp forest collapse: reef microbiome shift studyFarrell, S.P., D'Angelo, T., Yiu, D.S. et al., "Kelp forest collapse alters the reef microbiome and associated metabolome," PNAS (2026)
- Kelp heatwave priming: juvenile giant kelp studySmith, L.L., Le, B., Krainer, S.T., McNeil, A., Van Slyke, A.P., Froehlich, H.E., "Climate stress priming of juvenile Southern California giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) to marine heatwaves," Frontiers in Climate (2026)
- Kelp resilience monitoring: UC Santa Cruz super El Niño studyUC Santa Cruz News, "UC Santa Cruz researchers launch real-time study on kelp resilience as a super El Niño unfolds" (2026)
- Kombu: cultivation and usesFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme — Laminaria japonica"
- Kombu: photographAzeite, "Dasima," via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
M
- Marine heatwave kelp collapse: satellite comparisonNASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from USGS (public domain)
- Marine heatwaves: global kelp exposure projectionsArafeh-Dalmau, N. et al., "Global floating kelp forests have limited protection despite intensifying marine heatwave threats," Nature Communications (2025)
- Massachusetts kelp aquaculture: cultivation reportReitsma, J., Hutchinson, R., Archer, A. et al., "Massachusetts Kelp Cultivation Report," National Seaweed Hub / Cape Cod Cooperative Extension (2026)
- Massachusetts kelp report: announcementGordon, Z., "New report examines the kelp industry in Massachusetts," National Seaweed Hub, University of Connecticut (2026)
O
- Oarweed: appearance and rangeMarine Life Information Network (MarLIN), "Oarweed (Laminaria digitata)"
- Oarweed: photographOlivier Barbaroux / Ifremer, "Algues brunes (Laminaria digitata)," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
- Ocean acidification buffering: Chile/Tasmania follow-up studyStrain, E.M.A., Fernández, P.A., Bennett, S., Buschmann, A.H., Díaz, P., Forbes, H., Layton, C., Urbina, M.A., Gutiérrez, L., Vargas, C.A., "Giant kelp-associated variation in coastal seawater chemistry across contrasting sites in Chile and Tasmania," Annals of Botany (2026)
- Ocean acidification: kelp forest buffering effectStrain, E.M.A. et al., "Assessing the role of natural kelp forests in modifying seawater chemistry," Scientific Reports (2024)
- Ocean Rainforest kelp farm: demonstration photographNOAA Fisheries (public domain)
P
- Patagonian kelp forest resurveyPessarrodona, A., Palacios, M., Kaminsky, J., Mora-Soto, A., Dayton, P.K., Hüne, M. et al., "Footprints of global change in Patagonian kelp forests after half a century," Regional Environmental Change, 26, 194 (2026)
- Patagonian kelp resurvey (press release)University of Western Australia, "Human activity threatens biodiversity in remote Patagonian kelp forests," UWA News (2026)
R
- Red abalone photographBrett Seymour, USGS (public domain)
S
- Sea anemone in giant kelp: Monterey Bay photographNOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (public domain)
- Sea Bamboo: photographOssewa, "Ecklonia maxima, Lambert's Bay," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Sea Bamboo: size and rangeTwo Oceans Aquarium, "Sea bamboo"
- Sea lions in kelp forest: Monterey Bay photographNOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries / Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (public domain)
- Sea otter: feather boa kelp photographLilian Carswell, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, via USGS (public domain)
- Sea otters: keystone effects on kelp recoveryLangendorf, R.E. et al., "Dynamic and context-dependent keystone species effects in kelp forests," PNAS (2025)
- Southern Bull Kelp: photographPseudopanax, "Bull kelp growing on rocks at Taiaroa Head," via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
- Southern Bull Kelp: rafting and dispersalUniversity of Otago, "Kelp connecting Southern coasts, genomics reveals," reporting on Fraser, C.I. et al., Current Biology (2022)
- State of the World's Kelp Forests 2026 (2nd edition)Kelp Forest Alliance, "State of the World's Kelp Forests Report 2026," 2nd edition (2026)
- State of the World's Kelp Forests 2026 (news coverage)Hutchins, R., "Six in ten kelp forest regions degraded, but recovery efforts persist," Oceanographic (2026)
- Sugar kelp population genetics: coastal MaineFrancolini, R. et al., "Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) population genetics map onto geographic distance and oceanographic features across coastal Maine," Journal of Phycology (2026)
- Sugar Kelp: appearance and farmingNOAA Fisheries, "Sugar Kelp: Aquaculture"
- Sugar Kelp: photographBaralloco, "Alga Toco Saccharina latissima," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
W
- Wave attenuation: modeling kelp canopy defenseBodycomb, R. et al., "Kelp Aquaculture as a Nature-Based Solution for Coastal Protection: Wave Attenuation by Suspended Canopies," Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (2023)
- Wave damping: giant kelp field studyElsmore, K. et al., "Wave damping by giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera," Annals of Botany (2023)
- Wave energy reduction: kelp forestsWorld Resources Institute, "What Is Kelp and How Can We Protect It?"
- Winged Kelp: appearance and rangeSmithsonian Ocean, "Kelp and Kelp Forests," Smithsonian Institution
- Winged Kelp: aquaculture in MaineMaine Sea Grant, University of Maine, "Kelp Aquaculture Fact Sheet"
- Winged Kelp: photographRyan Hodnett, "Dabberlocks (Alaria esculenta) – Port Rexton, Newfoundland," via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)