A young bull kelp reaches for the sea surface in a successional forest growing in behind an urchin front in Monterey Bay. Kelp forests in California have two primary canopy-forming species: Giant kelp, genus Macrocystis and bull kelp, genus Nereocystis. There are also a half-dozen sub-canopy-forming kelps with fleshier or woody stipes that create extra habitat and resources for many organisms beneath the tall towers of bull and giant kelp, and then more kelps and assorted seaweeds draped over the reef. Just like land forests with towering redwoods, bushier laurels and low-lying ferns, seaweeds occupy space and clime within the multitude of coastal subtidal niches. August 2019 by Pat Webster @underwaterpat.
