Kelp gulls Larus dominicanus as predators in kelp Macrocystis pyrifera beds.

Minimum daily consumption of bivalves Gaimardia sp by kelp gulls in a Macrocystis kelp bed at Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego, was calculated to be ca. 525 000 individuals, corresponding to an energy removal of ca. 21 kJ·m-2·d-1. This is far in excess of energy removal by any other higher-trophic-level predator in southern Chilean Macrocystis beds, but previous work has ignored kelp gulls as a component of the kelp bed community.