One of the easiest ways that anyone can support bird habitat conservation is by buying duck stamps. Even before the sea otter effect was studied, kelp has been thought of as a possible climate solution. part may be reproduced without the written permission. The sea otter is the largest otter, reaching 100-160 cm (40 . Elakha AlliancePO Box 704Siletz, OR 97380Info@ElakhaAlliance.org, Beyond species-specific considerations, any reintroduction effort must consider ecosystem-level implications. The ancestors of sea otters diverged from freshwater mustelids about 5 million years ago, making the sea otter the most recently derived of all marine mammals. Blue rockfish in a giant kelp forest off North Monastery Beach, Carmel, California, 2022. The thick lustrous coat is reddish to dark brown. J Toxicol Environ Health. 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. Scientists already knew sea otters rely on an extreme metabolism to maintain, on average, a 37 Celsius body temperature, eating 25 percent of their body mass in food every day (SN: 6/13/14). But how much carbon from kelp is sequestered is still unknown. Society for Science & the Public 20002023. Leaks in mitochondria the energy-generating part of cells generate extra heat and cause sea otters extreme metabolism, the researchers found. Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted The main objectives of this project were to: In 2020, the Seattle Aquarium transitioned its Lightning Talk event to a virtual format. "When those kelps get dislodged they can travel and circulate on the surface for a 1,000km [620 miles]," says Hughes. Kelp, urchins, carbon, indigenous participation, and reintroduction are part of the answer. 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 foodwebs. Disclaimer. In a 2018 study he considered how interactions among pond predators (dragonfly larvae) and their herbivorous prey (the tadpoles of gray tree frogs and green frogs) changed amid rising temperatures. Sea otters also play a singular role in supporting kelp forests ecosystems in the North Pacific. In 1911, most Californians werent thinking about sea otters. Her thesis focused on the impacts of a marine heatwave on coral reef fish communities on the Big Island of Hawaii. 2005 Oct;35(11-12):1155-68. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2005.07.002. Otters indirect effects on coastal ecosystems can also follow pathways other than the otter-urchin-kelp trophic cascade. Official websites use .gov To understand the direct, indirect, and relative effects of these drivers on ecosystem service production, we performed a comprehensive assessment of nearshore rocky reef food web structure. 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. "An alluring idea," they write, would be to sell the carbon indirectly sequestered by the sea otter protected kelp forest "as a way to pay for their reintroduction and management or to compensate losses to shell fisheries from sea otter predation. "So I'm talking sea grasses, marshes and mangroves those are going to be the big three carbon sequestration habitats, in my opinion.". When enough sea otters are present, they have been found to keep the numbers of sea urchins down, preventing severe overgrazing (Estes and Palmisano, 1974). (Trophic cascade refers to the compounding effects of removing an organism from an ecosystem.) ?? Such devastation underscores the urgency of restoring balance to the ecosystem by bringing the otters back. Their dense coat is one of two primary adaptations to maintain internal body temperature. Working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Our results provide further evidence of the wide-ranging indirect effects of sea otter predation on nearshore marine communities and another apex predator, the Bald Eagle. 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. One idea researchers have floated is to use money from otter-generated carbon offsets to compensate fishers for losses in their catch. Since then, conservation efforts have allowed the otters to rebound somewhat, but some 2,500 miles (4,000km) of coastline in their historic range is still devoid of the furry mammals. Sea urchins even stick around after slashing through kelp beds. During the event, we received 395 chat messages in the YouTube live chat and had 364 concurrent viewers at the peak. (Phys.org)Can an abundance of sea otters help reverse a principal cause of global warming? Sea otters were hunted to the brink in the 19th Century fur trade, but their numbers have been slowly recovering since. Because of the high rate of uptake of atmospheric CO2, it has been hypothesized that sea otters might increase the rate However, in the 1700s and 1800s, fur traders hunted their population down to about 2,000 animals. 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. These currents are large and cyclical, taking the form of loops. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies They found that otters 'undoubtedly' have a strong influence on the cycle of CO2 storage." "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.' You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. The frequency of sea otter pups, rock greenling (Hexagammus lagocephalus), and smooth lumpsuckers (Aptocyclus ventricosus) in the eagle's diet declined with corresponding increases in Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus), Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), and various species of seabirds during the period of the recent otter population decline. Sea otters eat sea urchins, resulting in large healthy kelp forests and high pet primary productivity. To dwell in cold oceans, mammals must have developed ways to regulate their body temperature amid the chill. This can be done in a creative and captivating way, leaving audiences with one or two main take away points. With more hairs per square inch than those of any other mammal, the thick, lush furs fetched enormous sums. | (206) 543-6521, 2023 University of Washington | See how sea otters maintain the balance of kelp-forest ecosystems by consuming sea urchins, Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz, This article was most recently revised and updated by, Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World, Falling Stars: 10 of the Most Famous Endangered Species, https://www.britannica.com/animal/sea-otter, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. Quantifying the effect of otters might help ease some of the impacts to fisheries. 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. . Such work is valuable but can miss the big picture if it ignores the community in which a species exists. non-prey species . Other mammals including extremely small mice with high metabolisms can also generate heat this way. Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request. This higher quality food allowed abalone species to attain much larger body sizes than those found in other oceans, where the herbivores do not have similarly effective predators. Another challenge faced by sea otters is the need to obtain enough calories to fuel their extremely high metabolic rates, which requires that sea otters consume the equivalent of 20-25% of their . It could be that warmer conditions slow the larvaes metabolism, prompting the predators to eat less, Rudolf says. E-mail us atfeedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ. The intent was to create a second population that could provide sea otters to replenish the mainland range in the event of a catastrophic oil spill. 2013). Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription. The presentations needed to be accessible, with no jargon and no assumptions that the audience has any background knowledge in what they are speaking about. Links also do not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Scientists dont yet know how otters cells turn this process on and off. 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. 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. Crabs eat animals that clean the estuary's sea grass of algae, which is caused by farm pollution. "When I think about marine plants that can sequester carbon really well, it's typically the rooted ones," says Hughes. The Lightning Talks: Sea Otters event occurred on Earth Day, 4/22/2021 from 6-7pm PT on YouTube Live. The population at San Nicolas Island remained small for many years because most translocated sea otters had dispersed from the island soon after release, leaving a founding population of only about a dozen animals. And similar situations likely hold true for other ecosystems across the globe. Since then, researchers have learned more about the complementary roles that other sea urchin predators, like sea stars, play in controlling overgrazing by sea urchins, but the conclusion that sea otters defend kelp patches and help to promote eventual regrowth has not changed. In 2012, a team of ecologists including Estes published a study on the potential for sea otter carbon sequestration in the North Pacific between the Aleutian archipelago and Vancouver Island. Restoring otter populations could rein in the urchins and help protect the larger ecosystem, and ecologists are increasingly interested in applying this idea more broadly. Moreover, indirect interactions 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. T. Wright et al. Otters are responsible for the protection of the underwater ecosystem of Elkhorn Slough, a river estuary located near the Monterey Bay. Invest in quality science journalism by donating today. By the time the International Fur Seal Treaty was ratified in 1911, prohibiting the hunting of sea otters in international waters, only 13 remnant populations, each numbering an estimated 10100 animals, survived globally. The ban on hunting in international waters did little good for southern sea otters in nearshore waters, which were administered by the state, and by then sea otter skins were selling for more than $1,500 each, about $44,000 in todays dollars. The author granted permission for the file to be printed and for the text to be copied and pasted. . Still, it was clear that a large oil spill could potentially cause the subspecies extinction. If only 1% of kelp between the Aleutians and Vancouver Island is stowed away in the deep sea, that's still enough to offset the emissions of 100,000 combustion-powered automobiles. Small bodies with less surface area don't lose heat faster; it's small bodies with greater surface area relative to their volume that do. But these perpetually hungry mammals don't only protect kelp ecosystems. This is what makes them a "keystone" species without their presence, the stability of the entire ecosystem can be lost. Scientists still need to understand the reasons behind the otters disappearances, but Rasher Is hopeful. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. Testing the nutritional-limitation, predator-avoidance, and storm-avoidance hypotheses for restricted sea otter habitat use in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. These leaks account for a higher percentage of muscle cells total respiratory capacity in extremely small mice compared with otters. According to this explanation, by defending macroalgae (like kelp) from herbivores that attacked its living parts, sea otters allowed the macroalgae to relax its chemical defenses, making the pieces that drifted down to waiting herbivores higher quality food. Scientists already knew sea otters rely on an extreme metabolism to maintain, on average, a 37 Celsius body temperature, eating 25 percent of their body mass in food every day (SN: 6/13/14).. "But animals the world over, working in different ways to influence the carbon cycle, might actually have a large impact. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. Skeletal muscle thermogenesis enables aquatic life in the smallest marine mammal. In the absence of sea otters, these areas would have an NPP of 25-70 g C m 2 yr 1 and biomass density of 8-14 g C m 2. and transmitted securely. The Services assessment reviews the biological, socioeconomic, and legal aspects of reintroduction feasibility and summarizes known information, key data gaps, and stakeholder perspectives. When kelp dies and washes ashore, carbon returns to the atmosphere during decomposition. Oecologia. In 2020, the Seattle Aquarium transitioned its Lightning Talk event to a virtual format. Registration occurred through the Seattle Aquarium website, and was advertised in multiple ways (facebook ads, Seattle Aquarium members, staff and volunteers, UW SMEA department listserv, UW PCC listserv, etc). During the event, we received 395 chat messages in the YouTube live chat and had 364 concurrent viewers at the peak. If the value of otter carbon banking is recognised by our human banks, maybe the mustelids will soon swim across more reefs and estuaries fighting climate change while they're at it. She delights in all things creeping, crawling and curious, and studies human-dog coevolution as an anthropology Ph.D. student at Washington State University. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no appreciable enrichment of the 13C signature across the gradient of sea otter occupation time associated with an increase in the amount of kelp-derived carbon within fish. of carbon sequestration through their positive indirect effect on kelp ( Wilmers et al., 2012 ). Environ Monit Assess. For the survey, 224 people participated out of a potential of 364 viewers (61.4%). The Service terminated the translocation program and its associated zones in 2012. The voracious echinoderms not only mowed down the kelp but are also tearing apart and devouring the massive, slow-forming limestone reefs on which this seaweed grows, Rasher and his colleagues recently reported in Science. 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. Tour routes of great scenic drives on National Wildlife Refuges. A lightning talk is a very short presentation (5 minutes) and requires the presenter to be brief, clear and succinct. The Service aims to be inclusive, thoughtful, and scientifically rigorous as we consider actions to support sea otter recovery and ecosystem restoration now and in the future. 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 2019 Dec 19. We quantified the indirect effects of sea otter recovery on copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) and kelp greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammos) along a gradient in sea otter occupation time on the central coast of British Columbia. This same drift kelp feeds the abalone. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. After the event, there were >1,000 views of the YouTube video within 12 hours. At 2012 prices (US$47 per ton of C . Sea otters were not affected by oil from the Santa Barbara spill because they had not recovered their range that far south. We used the overexploitation, recovery and subsequent collapse of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations in t We studied the diets, productivity, and density of breeding Bald Eagles on four islands during 1993-1994 and 2000-2002, when sea otters were abundant and scarce, respectively. If prey species in sea otter habitat decline due to changing temperatures, this would reduce available food for otters. Consuming herbivorous urchins (genus Strongylocentrotus) enables kelp forests and the fish associated with them to flourish. Vol 373, July 9, 2021, p. 223. doi: 10.1126/science.abf4557. 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. Along with it goes the habitat for numerous species, including fish, invertebrates and other mammals. The Lightning Talks: Sea Otters event occurred on Earth Day, 4/22/2021 from 6-7pm PT on YouTube Live. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZmiqJ12Mms. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The flourishing of ecological thought in the 1970s was matched by a flourishing of environmental legislation. With no otters around, sea urchins graze voraciously on living kelp. University of California - Santa Cruz. Ecol Evol. For example, Vicknair and Estes (2012) found that sea otters . Effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Because these proton leaks increase the amount of energy lost as heat, otters need to eat more food to make up for that lost energy, revving up their metabolism. They enter a dormant state, biding their time under new kelp sprouts, and then revving back into action to eat the young seaweed. This could be a game changer in terms of how we think about the evolution of all marine mammals, not just sea otters, says Terrie Williams, an ecophysiologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study. subsequent decline in sea otter populations in the central Aleutian Archipelago. And for the most part, they were right. 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. Registration occurred through the Seattle Aquarium website, and was advertised in multiple ways (facebook ads, Seattle Aquarium members, staff and volunteers, UW SMEA department listserv, UW PCC listserv, etc). Sea otters can greatly affect the environment they live in. Enhydra lutris is the furriest animal on Earth, with up to 140,000 hairs on every square centimeter of its body meaning its hairs are 700 times as dense as those on a human head. And in both these ecosystems, otters might have the added benefit of storing carbon. The return of these playful creatures doesn't just transform their ecosystems, it can turn them into a powerful carbon sink. Sea otters recovered modestly during the 20th century; however, their populations remain widely separated. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Similarly, Pace (1981) experimentally removed sea urchins in Barkley Sound (otter-absent region, this study) and found higher kelp population densities and lower depth . New methods of reintroduction using juvenile sea otters who stranded as pups and were raised by surrogate sea otter mothers also show great promise. Also known as: Enhydra lutris, great sea otter. "If ecologists can get a better handle on what these impacts are, there might be opportunities for win-win conservation scenarios, whereby animal species are protected or enhanced, and carbon gets sequestered," he said.

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