Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request. Because sea otters (Enhydra lutris) exert a wide array of direct and indirect effects on coastal marine ecosystems throughout their geographic range, we investigated the potential influence of sea otters on the ecology of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. What participants took away was the deep connection between kelp forest ecosystems, urchins and sea otters as a keystone species. The Service terminated the translocation program and its associated zones in 2012. Our inferences were based on previously established effects of sea otters on kelp-forest ecosystems and patterns of covariation in sea otter density and the diets and demography of Bald Eagles. This story was produced with additional reporting by Katarina Zimmer. It could be that warmer conditions slow the larvaes metabolism, prompting the predators to eat less, Rudolf says. Even before the sea otter effect was studied, kelp has been thought of as a possible climate solution. Although sea otters spend most of their time in the ocean, they come to the shore on occasion to escape predators in the water, rest, or warm up. In the 1960s, they reached the waters of Gorda and San Simeon, north of Morro Bay, prime fishing grounds for a lucrative commercial abalone fishery that had begun in earnest after World War II. "When I think about marine plants that can sequester carbon really well, it's typically the rooted ones," says Hughes. The actions of the wind, differences in temperature within the ocean and differences in density and salt concentration all act together to produce the great ocean currents that flow around the world. In California's Elkhorn Slough estuary, eelgrass had nearly disappeared by the early 1980s due to declining water quality nutrient pollution from farms increased algal growth, smothering the seagrass. When kelp dies, it tends to stay buoyant until those little floats break down. This is what makes them a "keystone" species without their presence, the stability of the entire ecosystem can be lost. I worked with each of the speakers individually to highlight that our audience tends to be very diverse, with multiple backgrounds, education levels, ages and experiences. An official website of the United States government. In addition to kelp forests, otters' effect on seagrasses may also benefit the climate. These lightning talk events are widely accessible to all with an internet connection. If urchin populations grow unchecked, they can graze down a kelp forest very quickly, called a trophic cascade. Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent, nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science, medicine and technology. www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/110176. Significant changes in greenling diet occurred between the mid-1980s and the 2000 although the reasons for these changes were difficult to assess because of strong island-specific effects. Sea otters were hunted to the brink in the 19th Century fur trade, but their numbers have been slowly recovering since. University of California - Santa Cruz. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2'); }); A new study by two UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that a thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper. But researchers didnt understand the cellular origins of that revved-up metabolism for heat generation, Wright says. Mitigating increased CO2 in the atmosphere is a pressing issue in global environmental conservation with many obstacles and no easy solutions, the authors write. As sea otters have been reintroduced or naturally recovered in other coastal areas of North America, they have substantially disturbed the structure and dynamics of nearshore food. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted Comparing kelp density with otters and kelp density without otters, they found that "sea otters have a positive indirect effect on kelp biomass by preying on sea urchins, a kelp grazer." The 1969 blowout of Union Oil's Platform A off the coast of Santa Barbara sparked the modern environmental movement, leading to the passage of several crucial pieces of federal legislation, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). ?? In the 2000, the abundances of urchins, kelp and greenling were grossly unchanged at islands where otters were initially rare but had shifted to the characteristic pattern of otter-free systems at islands where otters were initially abundant. Some authorities also consider the marine otter (Lontra felina), a species that lives along the rocky Pacific coast of South America, to be a type of sea otter, because it hunts in shoreline and nearshore ocean areas, preying on crabs and other marine invertebrates. Epub 2005 Sep 27. Careers. Leaks in mitochondria the energy-generating part of cells generate extra heat and cause sea otters extreme metabolism, the researchers found. Your support enables us to keep our content free and accessible to the next generation of scientists and engineers. Female sea otters give birth in water to only one young at a time, and the young remains dependent on the mother until six to eight months of age. Rocks are typically used to break open crabs and other shellfish, whereas sea urchins are crushed with the forefeet and teeth. By consuming sea urchins who are not similarly hidden, sea otters change sea urchin behavior. These animals were in danger, and state officials knew it. The rate of oxygen flow offers an indirect measurement of cells heat production. Breeding success and productivity of Bald Eagles also increased during this time period, which may be due to the higher nutritional quality of avian prey consumed in later years. that the number of potential indirect interactions is vastly greater than the number of potential direct interactions in all but the simplest interaction webs (Estes et al. 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192, Indirect food web interactions: Sea otters and kelp forest fishes in the Aleutian archipelago, S.E. A new study by two UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that a thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper. In 1915, a California Department of Fish and Game biologist reported sightings by local residents of up to 32 sea otters at any one time. Few other animals eat as much relative to their weight or play such a pivotal role in maintaining their environment, says Brent Hughes, a marine ecologist studying coastal habitats at Sonoma State University in California. The biologist attributed this improvement from their near-extermination just a few years earlier to the states total protection. Ocean Sciences Building, Box 355351 Seattle, WA 98195, uwpcc@uw.edu disaster), and due to their own self reporting of knowledge, many were relatively well-versed in what climate change is. Simenstad et al. I think were all coming to realize that theres going to be a lot of synergies between species loss and climate change, says Hillary Young, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the new study. Official websites use .gov Far below their vantage point at the edge of the rugged Big Sur cliffs, tossed on rough waters, was a cluster of buoyant, dark forms. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. But to understand the sea otters relationship with abalone, and with other organisms in the nearshore marine communities of the North Pacific Ocean, we need to go back in time. Read about my event of short engaging lightning talks in fulfillment of the UW PCC Graduate Certificate in Climate Science. In general, currents carry warm water from . The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Because sea otters (Enhydra lutris) exert a wide array of direct and indirect effects on coastal marine ecosystems throughout their geographic range, we investigated the potential influence of sea otters on the ecology of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. In areas where sea otter populations thrive, kelp forests often flourish too growing at a rate of up to 60cm (24 inches) a day (Credit: Getty Images). 2016. Mitochondria pump protons across their inner membrane to store energy that can be used to power the cell. This has provided a natural gradient of sea otter occupation time across 20 different sites that allowed us to examine the direct and indirect effects of sea otter recovery. The caloric value of sea otters compares with a range of 0.78 to 3.55 kcal gm -1 of wet weight for fish and other marine mammals that make up the killer whale diet. With more hairs per square inch than those of any other mammal, the thick, lush furs fetched enormous sums. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. Conrad PA, Miller MA, Kreuder C, James ER, Mazet J, Dabritz H, Jessup DA, Gulland F, Grigg ME. The most widely studied and well-known pathway is from sea otters to herbivorous macroinvertebrates (primarily urchins) to kelp and other macroalgae (Estes and Palmisano 1974, Duggins 1980, Breen et al. These slugs and snails often don't eat the seagrass; instead they scrape away the algae that grows on the grass, which allows the seagrass to absorb more sunlight and grow more efficiently. "I felt like I had learned something that was fairly remarkable.". R Soc Open Sci. 2005 Oct;35(11-12):1155-68. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2005.07.002. Sea otters eat sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus spp), which are voracious invertebrate herbivores that graze on kelp. Temperature-dependent viscosity had a significant effect on the carrying capacity and growth rates of consumers, as well as the average density of the top predator. www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/110176, Journal information: That's more carbon than that emitted from a million passenger cars for a year. They note that markets have been established in Europe and the United States to trade carbon credits and thus inject an economic incentive into either reducing CO2 output or increasing CO2 sequestration. Learn more about structure and function of the surrounding ecosystem. This explanatory language, which accompanied the 2021 Appropriations Act, also instructed the Service to study the feasibility and cost of reestablishing sea otters on the Pacific Coast of the contiguous United States. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Provided by The video link was shared 53 times. Environ Monit Assess. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form. A. Estes, and C. A. Simenstad. In 1911, most Californians werent thinking about sea otters. Although the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources listed the sea otter as a species of least concern in 1996, population declines since the 1980s due to the effects of pollution from oil spills, conflicts with fisheries, predation by sharks and killer whales, and disease prompted the organization to reclassify the sea otter as an endangered species in 2000. It inhabits coastal waters from the Kuril Islands to the Aleutian Islands southward to the coast of California. Predatory fish invasion induces within and across ecosystem effects in Yellowstone National Park. And in both these ecosystems, otters might have the added benefit of storing carbon. E-mail us atfeedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ. Click on the following key terms used on this web page to see their definitions on the glossary page: Sign up to receive our monthly email updates. They found that otters "undoubtedly have a strong influence" on the cycle of CO2 storage. A new study shows how the high metabolism of adult and baby sea otters begins at the cellular level. Now, scientists are studying how these marine mustelids may also be climate superheroes. The spreading kelp can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to ravenous sea urchins, the study finds.
