Kelp forests are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, supporting thousands of species. Their rapid global decline due to warming, urchin barrens, and human impacts creates cascading welfare consequences for dependent species.
Kelp forest decline creates welfare consequences at multiple scales. For dependent species, the loss of foraging habitat means reduced food availability, increased competition, and nutritional stress. Species that rely on kelp for shelter - juvenile fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals - become exposed to predation when structural habitat disappears. Sea otters that have expanded into urchin-barren coastlines have improved urchin control but face challenges finding adequate food in degraded ecosystems. Marine heatwave events cause direct thermal stress for species adapted to cold, nutrient-rich kelp forest conditions, causing mortality and reproductive failure.