Thesis

From fronds to forests : applying dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory to individual -based and whole-forest models of laminaria hyperborea

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2025
Thesis identifier
  • T17182
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201967309
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Kelp forests are dynamic ecosystems that support biodiversity, carbon capture, and primary production while providing critical habitats for marine species. This study uses a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model to simulate the growth of Laminaria hyperborea at individual and forest scales. The model tracks the pathways of carbon and nitrogen from environmental uptake to their assimilation into tissue. By integrating physiological processes with environmental factors, it reveals key insights into growth dynamics that are shaped by population structure, such as recruitment, growth and mortality, and intraspecies competition for light. A significant result is the impact of canopy shading on growth. Cohorts under dense canopies experience constrained growth rates until pivotal events, such as mortality or thinning, allow light to penetrate the canopy, triggering rapid growth acceleration. This dynamic interaction between cohort settlement timing and canopy changes profoundly affects individual growth trajectories and forest biomass. The interplay between shading and canopy structure highlights the importance of population dynamics in kelp forest ecosystems. The DEB model predicts individual growth curves and seasonal biomass fluctuations with accuracy, showing that shading is a critical factor for younger plants, while mature plants reach stable biomass. Simulations under future environmental scenarios, including the IPCC RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 for 2050 and 2100 periods, predict how changing conditions might alter growth and biomass patterns of L. hyperborea in Scottish waters. These findings emphasize the sensitivity of kelp forest ecosystems to environmental changes and the central role of canopy dynamics in mediating these effects. This study underscores the importance of incorporating canopy dynamics and population structure in modelling kelp forest ecosystems. Unlike traditional approaches that extrapolate individual growth patterns to populations, this model demonstrates how canopy-driven processes influence growth limitations and accelerations. Such insights are essential for understanding the responses of kelp forests to climate change and for guiding conservation and management strategies. All the data and code used to implement this model and the figures presented here are available at: https://gitlab.cis.strath.ac.uk/spb19186/laminaria-hyperborea-ibm
Advisor / supervisor
  • Heath, Michael R.
  • Speirs, Douglas C.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2024

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