This proposal is for a tight bundle of programs focused on research and education addressing a series of interrelated ecological crises stemming from the collapse of the kelp forests in mendocino…

This proposal is for a tight bundle of programs focused on research and education addressing a series of interrelated ecological crises stemming from the collapse of the kelp forests in mendocino county's nearshore habitats. In the past five years, our region's kelp forests have decreased by 93% of normal. Sea star wasting disease decimated a key predator of purple sea urchins, followed by years of limited kelp forest growth due to higher ocean temperatures. Without predation, the urchins are voracious eaters of kelp. The accompanying explosion of the purple urchin population - as much as 60 times higher than normal - has prevented the kelp forests from recovering from these multiple blows. Mendocino coast is ground zero for a dramatic ecological collapse. The noyo center has been at the heart of efforts to address this crisis, cobbling together multilateral partnerships and increasing its research capacity in order to develop and test solutions. For years, we have worked uphill to DRA