Satellite imagery shows Northern California kelp forests have collapsed

Re:Satellite imagery shows Northern California kelp forests ... by psychiatrist24 on Monday March 15, 2021 @02:33AM (#26463110)

According to the article, the purple sea urchins are starving. Maybe this will balance out eventually, as other predator/prey cycles in nature?

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Re:Satellite imagery shows Northern California kelp forests ... by HNfriend234 on Monday March 15, 2021 @03:44AM (#26463438)

Yes they're starving but without a natural predator to them then they will just rebound if kelp grows back.

The article did mention that the starfish predator of the urchin died from a mystery disease. I wonder if that starfish was reintroduced into the area if it would be able to survive again or simply die from the disease again.

I think the key to fixing this issue is to figure out the reason the starfish died of the disease. Then it might be possible to mitigate for that.

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Re:Satellite imagery shows Northern California kelp forests ... by psychiatrist24 on Monday March 15, 2021 @03:57AM (#26463501)

Or wait for a mysterious disease to kill off the urchins. Or maybe some starfish develop immunity to the disease.

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Re:Satellite imagery shows Northern California kelp forests ... by tomrod on Monday March 15, 2021 @02:37AM (#26463134)

Unclear. Ecosystem collapse is hard to predict.

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