Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Califronian CESU

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to increase our understanding of kelp forest ecosystems. For instance, we wish to determine how marine communities (specifically kelp plants) respond to environmental variation. Two specific goals of interest are (1) determine the distribution of wave period and amplitude across the study region of the nearshore environments off the central California coast by using in-situ wave sensors in kelp forests, and (2) determine how wave model predictions compare to empirical observations field observations and the predicted wave energy from the CDIP Nowcast models. This comparison will indicate the extent that CDIP Nowcast models provide accurate wave energy information from BOEM and the extent to which they need to be corrected for future ecological analyses.

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