In parts of the Gulf of Maine, kelp forests are disappearing fast and being replaced with something new. Scientists call this kind of dramatic, lasting ecosystem change a state shift.
Bigelow Laboratory Senior Research Scientist Doug Rasher has dedicated his career to understanding the causes and consequences of these state shifts on reefs like Maine’s kelp forests.
Using tools like environmental DNA, dive surveys, and chemical analysis, Rasher and his team — including a group of Maine eDNA students — uncovered what these changing kelp forests mean for fish, food webs, and the future of Maine’s coast.
