Read Each Paragraph and Then Fill in the Blanks Or Answer the Questions in Complete Sentences

Name: ______

Kelp Forests

Read each paragraph and then fill in the blanks or answer the questions in complete sentences.

Characteristics of a kelp forest

Kelp forests grow along rocky coastlines in water that is 18 to 90 feet deep (6 to 30 meters). Kelp is a type of brown algae, which hold on to the rocky bottom with root-like structures called holdfasts. From these holdfasts, long streamers of kelp grow up toward the surface. Each leaf has gas bladders that keep the plant upright.

1. Where do kelp forests grow?

2. The root-like structure that helps attach the kelp to the rocky bottom is called a

______.

3. If kelp holds onto the bottom and grows to the surface, how tall will kelp grow? (Hint: how deep is the water that it grows in?)

4. Each leaf has a ______that keeps the kelp floating upright? Name: ______

Life in the Kelp Forest Canopy

Kelp forests are important marine habitats and provide shelter for large populations of fish, crustaceans, sea-snails, sea-stars and sea-urchins. The upper canopy of the kelp forest provides homes and nurseries for many species of fish and invertebrates (animals without a backbone), including lobsters and abalone. Meat and plant eating creatures such as sea snails, octopus, cuttlefish, seahorses and finned fish move through the canopy in search of a snack. Other fish such as giant sea bass, kelp bass and Garibaldi live among the kelp strands, munching on smaller creatures whenever they find them. Still other fish, such as the halfmoon, topsmelt, and blacksmith fish use the kelp as shelter, eating primarily plankton.

can·o·py n - the uppermost layer of vegetation in a forest, consisting of the tops of trees forming a kind of ceiling.

The upper canopy provides ______to the many critters that live there?

List 5 critters that live in the upper canopy of the kelp forest. Name: ______Life on the Rocky Bottom

Sea otter with sea urchin

King crabs with huge claws also roam about this leafy domain. Sea urchins, sea cucumbers and starfish live among the holdfasts and rocky bottom. The abalone and spiny urchins hide during the day and come out at night to feed on tiny algae that they scrape off the rocks at the base of the kelp plants. (Unfortunately, when sea urchins nibble at the base of the kelp streamers they detach the kelp plant from the holdfast. This kills the kelp plant. Urchins become a threat to the kelp forest when their population grows too large). Luckily, sea otters love to eat urchins and help keep their numbers down. Sponges and bryozoans also live along the bottom, as do many other varieties of fish and eels.

6. Urchins feed on tiny ______that live on the rocks. Unfortunately, they can detach the

______while nibbling the algae and can kill the plant.

7. The marine mammal that loves to eat sea urchins is called a ______.

8. List three critters that live on the rocky bottom of a kelp forest.

9. On the back of this page, draw and label a kelp plant (see diagram above). Then, if you have time, add some critters that you would find in the canopy and some that you’d find on the rocky bottom.