Sea otters recovered modestly during the 20th century; however, their populations remain widely separated. Net range expansion has not occurred in more than 20 years, due largely to increasing mortality of sea otters caused by white shark bites, especially at the northern and southern ends of the central California range. This story was produced with additional reporting by Katarina Zimmer. At 2012 prices (US$47 per ton of C . The content is provided for information purposes only. The sea otter is the largest otter, reaching 100-160 cm (40 . Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are a small mammal in the weasel family. of carbon sequestration through their positive indirect effect on kelp ( Wilmers et al., 2012 ). 2009 May;152(1-4):357-67. doi: 10.1007/s10661-008-0321-7. In temperate rocky reef ecosystems, sea otters (Enhydra lutris) trigger a cascade of direct and indirect effects driving transitions between kelp-depleted and . MeSH In these zones, otters mostly feed on crabs. (Trophic cascade refers to the compounding effects of removing an organism from an ecosystem.) Mitochondria pump protons across their inner membrane to store energy that can be used to power the cell. MA-043219 to R. Davis), 1719 N Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, Neuroscientists decoded peoples thoughts using brain scans, Mouse hair turns gray when certain stem cells get stuck, Here are 5 cool findings from a massive project on 240 mammal genomes, Fentanyl deaths have spiked among U.S. children and teens, Satellite data reveal nearly 20,000 previously unknown deep-sea mountains, Thawing permafrost may unleash industrial pollution across the Arctic, Ultrasound reveals trees drought-survival secrets, Seismic waves crossing Mars core reveal details of the Red Planets heart, Rocky planets might have been able to form in the early universe, Cosmic antimatter hints at origins of huge bubbles in our galaxys center, Black holes resolve paradoxes by destroying quantum states, These worms can escape tangled blobs in an instant. The team collected tissue from 21 captive and wild sea otters, ranging from babies to adults. While diving in Alaska's Aleutian Islands in the 1970s, James Estes, a marine ecologist with the University of California, Santa Cruz, documented that kelp forests without sea otters essentially become underwater deserts. In kelp forest systems, the influences of trophic interactions between sea otters and their prey spread through the interaction web via several pathways. E-mail us atfeedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ. In the mid-1980s, the two islands with high-density otter populations supported dense kelp forests, relatively few urchins, and abundant rock greenling whereas the opposite pattern (abundant urchins, sparse kelp forests, and relatively few rock greenling) occurred at islands where otters were rare. She has also written for Science,Massive ScienceandAsk Dr. Universe, a science column for kids. DOI and the bureaus do not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act. We measured the abundance of sea urchins (biomass density), kelp (numerical density) and fish (Catch per unit effort) at four islands in the mid-1980s (when otters were abundant at two of the islands and rare at the two others) and in 2000 (after otters had become rare at all four islands). By the submission of this blog, there were 1,336 views. We found no evidence that sea otter occupation time or any other factor tested affected rockfish or greenling density observed on underwater visual surveys. Often resting near beds of kelp, where they rely on their buoyant bodies to float on their backs, sea otters can gather in groups of up to 1,000 individuals, grasping one anothers forefeet to create large rafts or pods. And similar situations likely hold true for other ecosystems across the globe. Many climate impact studies on species have not adequately acknowledged this kind of ecosystem complexity as a factor, according to Rasher and other scientists.
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indirect effect of temperature on sea otters