barrens

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But when wasting disease in effect wiped out their main predator, the sea urchins exploded in number, decimating kelp forests and transforming once-lush underwater habitats into so-called urchin barrens.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2025

"A classic example of multiple stressors causing a regime shift is the transition from kelp forests to urchin barrens in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of North America," Meunier said.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024

Interspersed with the woods are wild blueberry barrens.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2023

The mass die-out allowed the sea urchin population to explode, and in 2021, satellite imagery showed that 95 percent of California’s kelp forests had been destroyed and replaced by carpets of sickly sea urchin barrens.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2022

The loons, geese, ducks, and shorebirds had heard the message from the environment and had left the barrens of Alaska and Canada.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George