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Population dynamics of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis in kelp forests and barren grounds in Norway

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Abstract

A northward trend of declining abundance of sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and increasing kelp recovery along the coast of Norway has provided an opportunity to explore whether the decline of sea urchins can be explained by systematic variations in demographic or fitness-related traits. The population density of sea urchins in mid-Norway (65°70′N) close to the boundary between barren grounds and recently recovered kelp forests was only 26 % of that on barren grounds in northern Norway (70°70′N). Populations were dominated by young (2–4 years) individuals and age-specific numbers decreased nearly exponentially with age. The variation in most demographic variables was high among replicate sampling sites and test size. Mean age and growth rates did not differ consistently among sites in mid- and northern Norway nor between barren ground and kelp sites. In contrast, mortality rates in mid-Norway were 50 % higher than in northern Norway. We suggest that increasing predation pressure on sea urchins partly explains the higher mortality in mid-Norway. Recent studies have shown that recruitment of sea urchins is significantly lower in mid-Norway than in northern Norway. The lower mean density of sea urchins, and hence the progressing recovery of the kelp forests in mid-Norway, may thus result from a combination of recruitment failure and increasing mortality.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (NFR) and Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) as part of the project “Habitat restoration in overgrazed areas on the northern Norwegian coast”. The authors would like to thank four anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadallèen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway

    Camilla With Fagerli, Hartvig Christie & Kjell Magnus Norderhaug

  2. Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Camilla With Fagerli, Sandra Gran Stadniczeñko, Stein Fredriksen & Kjell Magnus Norderhaug

  3. Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change (ENSPAC), Roskilde University, P.O. Box 260, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Morten Foldager Pedersen

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  1. Camilla With Fagerli
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  2. Sandra Gran Stadniczeñko
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  3. Morten Foldager Pedersen
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  4. Hartvig Christie
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  5. Stein Fredriksen
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  6. Kjell Magnus Norderhaug
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Correspondence to Camilla With Fagerli.

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Communicated by P. Gagnon.

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Fagerli, C.W., Stadniczeñko, S.G., Pedersen, M.F. et al. Population dynamics of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis in kelp forests and barren grounds in Norway. Mar Biol 162, 1215–1226 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2663-3

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