Overview
Having done research in the local kelp forests for many years, the Hofmann lab officially joined the SBC LTER in 2018. We are currently involved in field experiments to explore the role of kelp in altering the physicochemical nature of seawater in a manner that might influence the “biology” of the kelp forest community. Here, we are examining a range of topics from parental effects to how epigenetic mechanisms might translate these environmental signals to the genome of marine invertebrate species such as sea urchins.
Under the theme Ecological and evolutionary consequences of kelp-induced changes in seawater chemistry of the Santa Barbara Channel LTER network, we are conducting experiments to test whether Macrosystis pyrifera kelp forests (i) significantly alter temperature and carbonate chemistry experienced by the kelp forest community and (ii) whether environmental variation in and out of the kelp forest influence TGP and the epigenetic inheritance of fitness-related traits. These studies include outplants of adult purple sea urchins in the field, collection of time-series oceanographic data, experimental conditioning of larvae, and an integration of physiological and epigenomic methods.
For more on the SBC LTER, check out the website.
Research Highlight
Our research within the SBC LTER has focuses on how kelp’s high productivity and metabolism that alters the chemical properties of seawater and its organic constituents impacts kelp forest inhabitants. Here, we have recently been investigating how variability in seawater conditions influence the provisioning of offspring by sea urchins via parental effects. This aspect of our work has been led by Logan Kozal, inspired by early work done by Dr. Umi Hoshijima. For this field campaign we have caged sea urchins inside and outside the kelp forest, instrumented those sites and explored how this natural variability has influenced the adults and their progeny.
Affiliated Researchers
Selected Publications
Hoshijima U and Hofmann GE (2019) Variability of Seawater Chemistry in a Kelp Forest Environment Is Linked to in situ Transgenerational Effects in the Purple Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:62. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00062
Hofmann, G.E., C.A. Blanchette, E.B. Rivest, and L. Kapsenberg. 2013. Taking the pulse of marine ecosystems: The importance of coupling long-term physical and biological observations in the context of global change biology. Oceanography 26(3):140–148, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.56.
