Kelps are magnificent plants that provide food and habitat for numerous faunal organisms across temperate latitudes. Kelps attach to the bottom through a root-like holdfast; a perfect “home” for diverse epifauna. While I was in Portugal, we compared the epifauna inhabiting holdfasts of two different kelps (Saccorhiza polyschides and Laminaria hyperborea). Surprisingly, the assemblage structure of epifauna did not differ between both kelp species, while abundances per holdfast volume unit were among the largest ever recorded. The full reference is:
F. Tuya, F., Larsen, K., Platt, V. Patterns of abundance and assemblage structure of epifauna inhabiting two morphologically different kelp holdfasts. Hydrobiologia 2011, 658: 373-383.
