A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in Canada and one in the U.S. has found that eelgrass genetic diversity increases when sea otters live in eelgrass meadows. In their paper published in the journal ...
Due to their protected status, sea otter populations have rebounded across the Pacific Northwest Coast following their near elimination during the historic maritime fur trade. But the recovery of these shellfish predators ...
Ecology
Aug 18, 2021
0
675
Kelp forests are a crucial California marine ecosystem. From kelp's floating canopies to its "holdfast" roots, the giant seaweed—algae, actually—supports greater biodiversity and sequesters more carbon than a redwood ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 11, 2021
0
259
Sea otters are a hardy lot.
Plants & Animals
Jul 8, 2021
2
27
The ocean's mammals are at a crucial crossroads—with some at risk of extinction and others showing signs of recovery, researchers say.
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2021
1
7
Sea otters have long been recognized as a classic example of a keystone species, a dominant predator that maintains the balance of kelp forest ecosystems by controlling populations of sea urchins, which are voracious kelp ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 8, 2021
0
1662
Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2021
1
7455
Heart disease is a killer threat for southern sea otters feasting on domoic acid in their food web, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis.
Ecology
Jan 26, 2021
2
14
One in five countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing, threatening more than half of global GDP (US$42 trillion, or £32 trillion), according to recent research. This scary sounding statistic raises all sorts of ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 25, 2020
0
30
Since their reintroduction to the Pacific coast in the 1970s, the sea otters' rapid recovery and voracious appetite for tasty shellfish such as urchins, clams and crabs has brought them into conflict with coastal communities ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 11, 2020
0
712
