Jason Toy
Building Genomic Resilience into Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) Restoration and Conservation
Abstract
Kelp forests, which represent some of the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, are in global decline. Along the north coast of California, bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) forests have suffered catastrophic losses of >90% in just the last decade due to the unprecedented, combined impacts of marine heatwaves, predator loss, and uncontrolled urchin grazing. The restoration and management of this habitat, which is of great cultural and economic importance to local communities, has been hindered by the lack of bull kelp genomic data to guide the determination of management units, seed transfer zones, broodstock selection, and the evaluation of intervention strategies. Without such data, managers and restoration efforts risk reducing genetic diversity, introducing maladaptive variation, and otherwise limiting the adaptive capacity of remnant and restored populations. I will employ modern population genomics methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of the genomic background of the species, both before and after recent declines. I will compare overall genetic diversity at these two timepoints, quantify connectivity between regions, identify adaptive variation, and assess the risk of inbreeding and outbreeding depression within regions. These results will then be used to produce recommendations for management units, seed transfer zones, broodstock selection, and rapid response after disturbances that will directly inform the state’s Kelp Restoration and Management Plan. I will also combine genomic data with climate envelope modeling to create prioritization maps that will inform the selection of locations for protected refugia, restoration efforts, and biobanking. Finally, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, I will apply genomic monitoring techniques to early restoration efforts in Mendocino County, enabling the robust evaluation of their approaches and the development of a broader framework for genomic monitoring of bull kelp resilience and conservation outcomes. This framework will be broadly applicable to conservation efforts beyond bull kelp, particularly for the restoration of other threatened marine foundation species.
Mentors
Malin Pinsky at University of California Santa Cruz and Benjamin Grime at The Nature Conservancy
Undergraduate Education
B.S. Biotechnology, University of California, Davis, 2015
Graduate Education
Ph.D. – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 2022
