Socio-Ecological Interactions in Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Southern California

There are few places where the need to integrate social and ecological sciences is more evident than the coastal zone, which is one of the most resource-rich and heavily utilized regions in the world. Such is the case for the urbanized coast of southern California where extensive human development encroaches upon giant kelp forests, a prominent feature of the shallow subtidal zone in this region and one of the most productive ecosystems on earth. Using long-term data complied by the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER I illustrate how human and natural forces can interact to influence the structure and function of giant kelp forests, which in turn feed to affect human outcomes and societal decisions via the provisioning, cultural and regulating services that kelp forests provide to society.