Northern Kelp

Laminaria hyperborea forms the structural backbone of the upper Mire Loch Wall ecosystem, creating a forest with fronds up to 3 m long that casts deep shade and provides settlement substrate for hundreds of associated invertebrate species. Individual kelp plants are estimated to live 15 years or more and their holdfasts harbour an entire community of invertebrates — sea urchins grazing on the stipes, brittlestars clinging to the fronds, and wrasse hunting beneath the canopy. The reserve's protection has allowed this kelp forest to reach an ecological density rarely seen on the fished Scottish coast.