Effect of El Niño/La Niña

on Kelp Biomass

SARP 2010
SHERRY ZHOU
 El Niño/La Niña

  Sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific

Ocean
  El Niño: unusually warm temperatures
  La Niña: unusually cool temperatures
  Important consequences for weather and climate
around the globe
  Not totally predictable; occurs once every 4 years
and lasts ~18 months
  1997-98: El Niño
 Kelp

  High economic and ecologic

importance
  Grow as fast as half a meter a
day, eventually reaching 30 to
80 m
  Kelp abundance highly dynamic
 Research Area

Cavanaugh et al. 2010

 Goals

See if sea surface temperature affects kelp biomass

  Calculate kelp area in each of the administrative beds

  Compare our result with that of previous years
(obtain from Cavanaugh et al.)
  Determine if there is an El Niño this year
MASTER Imagery
 NDVI and FLH

  NDVI: normalized difference vegetation index

  assess whether the target contains live green vegetation 
Kelp!
  NIR: band 8 (0.806 µm)

  Red: band 5 (0.6580 µm)

  FLH: fluorescence line height

  the amount of radiance leaving the sea surface as a result of
chlorophyll fluorescence  Algal bloom
Classification Tree

4 classes
Green: algal bloom
Red: kelp
Dark blue: ocean
Light blue: shallow
water
NDVI and FLH Transformations

NDVI FLH
 Sieving

Before sieving

After sieving 
 Kelp Administrative Beds

28
26 22 21
27 25
24 23

California Department of Fish and Game

Transformations
 Cavanaugh et al. vs. Us

Cavanaugh et al. Us
  Satellite imagery:   MASTER remote sensing
reflectance signals data
  Diver sampling:   No divers
measurements of kelp
biomass
 2000000

1500000 20

Kelp adm. beds

21
22

kelp area (m2)

1000000 23
24
25
26
500000
27
28

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Year
17.00

16.50

16.00

15.50
Temp (C)

15.00
No El Niño /La
14.50 Niña this year.
14.00
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Year
National Data Buoy Center, NASA Giovanni http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/giovanni#maincontent
 20
2000000

Kelp adm. beds

21
22

kelp area (m2)

1500000 23
24
R² = 0.0576 25
1000000
26
27
R² = 0.1873
500000 28
R² = 0.35431 Linear(21)
R² = 0.35431 Linear(25)
0
Linear(26)
14.50 15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00
Linear(28)
Temp (C)

2000000 20

Kelp adm. beds

21
22
Lagging effect?
1500000 R² = 0.32565
Kelp area (m2)

23
24

1000000 25
26
R² = 0.30782 27
500000 28
R² = 0.33889
Linear(21)
R² = 0.06542 Linear(25)
0 Linear(26)
14.50 15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00 Linear(28)
Temp (C)
 Conclusions and Future Studies

  Sea surface temperature   Compare our data with

affects kelp biomass  Cavanaugh et al.’s 2010
some lagging data
correlation   A previous study suggests a
  Calculated kelp area in decrease in kelp biomass
each of the adm beds associated with El Niño
  Compared our result with events (Grove et al.)
those of previous years   El Niño events: sea surface
(Cavanaugh et al.) temperature, wave climate,
  Determined there is no El regional precipitation
Niño this year
 References

  Cavanaugh K, Siegel D., Kinlan B., Reed D. (2010)

Scaling giant kelp field measurements to regional
scales using satellite observations. Mar Ecol Prog Ser
403: 13-27.
  Grove R., Zabloudil K., Norall T., and Deysher L.
(2002) Effects of El Nino events on natural kelp beds
and artificial reefs in southern California. JCES
Journal of Marine Sciences 59:S330-337.
 Acknowledgments

  NASA-SARP program
  Drs. Nick Clinton, Shawn Kefauver, Clarissa
Anderson, Raphe Kudela
  Kyle Cavanaugh et al.
  The ocean team
  NSERC
  Fellow sarpians