A version of this article appears in the August 14, 2021 issue of Science News. A lightning talk is a very short presentation (5 minutes) and requires the presenter to be brief, clear and succinct. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. For instance, many scientists have studied how climate change will affect marine organisms performance and survival. What was Rosalind Franklins true role in the discovery of DNAs double helix. 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. She has also written for Science,Massive ScienceandAsk Dr. Universe, a science column for kids. Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription. Skeletal muscle thermogenesis enables aquatic life in the smallest marine mammal. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service terminated the translocation program and its associated zones in 2012. The spreading kelp can. 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). They estimate that the CO2 removed from the atmosphere via the otter-kelp link could be worth between $205 million and $408 million on the European Carbon Exchange. And similar situations likely hold true for other ecosystems across the globe. After wolves were reintroduced in 1995, though, they became the main cause of elk mortality and created a steadier carrion supply that helped sustain other animals throughout the cold months. Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent, nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science, medicine and technology. The eeriness did not end there: during a boat ride, one of Rashers colleagues pointed to a cove where he had seen hundreds of sea otters splashing in the frigid water in the 1970s. Most of the participants go so far as to consider climate impacts when they make decisions in their personal lives. Sensors Hint They Do. Sea otters were not affected by oil from the Santa Barbara spill because they had not recovered their range that far south. It inhabits coastal waters from the Kuril Islands to the Aleutian Islands southward to the coast of California. 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. These currents are large and cyclical, taking the form of loops. Amy Olsen is a second-year masters student of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and completed this capstone project for the Graduate Certificate in Climate Science. During the event, we received 395 chat messages in the YouTube live chat and had 364 concurrent viewers at the peak. 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). 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). One of the easiest ways that anyone can support bird habitat conservation is by buying duck stamps. University of California - Santa Cruz. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Two of these populations disappeared by the end of the decade. I believe the speakers did an amazing job at articulating climate change through an animal lens, and they highlighted multiple ways that climate change will impact the marine environment and how sea otters can help mitigate those changes. 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. Wilmers et al., 2012 Indirect effects and prey behavior mediate interactions between an endangered prey and recovering predator. Sea otters help ecosystems capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it as biomass and deep-sea detritus, preventing it from being converted back to carbon dioxide and contributing to climate change. This story was updated August 24, 2021, to correct the description of surface area's effect on heat loss. In 2020, echoing language of the MMPA, the U.S. Congress recognized that sea otters play a critical ecological role in the marine environment as a keystone species that significantly affects the structure structure Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head. The loss or recovery of apex predators can have profound positive or negative ecological and socio-economic impacts. 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. "They have this little radula that gently scrapes [the seagrass] and takes off all the epiphytes growing on it. That means it's pulling carbon from the atmosphere faster than a slower growing plant (though kelp is technically an alga). Evidence of this coevolution may be seen in the bodies of animals, like abalone, today. Sea otters feed mainly on sea urchins and on crabs and other shellfish. of carbon sequestration through their positive indirect effect on kelp ( Wilmers et al., 2012 ). We dont know if this is inherent, Wright says, or if this is something that quickly comes on after birth as a means of generating heat on demand.. Sea otters recovered modestly during the 20th century; however, their populations remain widely separated. Find out more about how we calculated this figure here. Beyond species-specific considerations, any reintroduction effort must consider ecosystem-level implications. As sea otters declined (for reasons scientists are still trying to understand), their favorite preysea urchinsexploded in number. The idea of restoring predators to blunt the impacts of warming has been simmering in ecology for decades. Unlike its northern cousin, however, the marine otter spends much more time on land, where it makes its dens in sea caves, along windswept beaches, or in gaps within rock outcrops. 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. A. Estes, and C. A. Simenstad. Reisewitz, J. Moreover, indirect interactions When sea otters are absent, urchins decimate kelp, resulting in low net primary productivity. Among their favorite foods are sea urchins, which are easy to catch and dense in calories. In contrast, diets and diet diversity of Bald Eagles changed considerably between the two time periods, likely reflecting a change in prey availability resulting from the increase and subsequent decline in sea otter populations. 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. Sea otters began slowly and methodically to expand their range to the north and south of Bixby Cove. Sea otters can also benefit seagrass. Otters are responsible for the protection of the underwater ecosystem of Elkhorn Slough, a river estuary located near the Monterey Bay. To communicate the science behind these concepts to a wide and diverse audience, I hosted a virtual Lightning Talk event with my employer, the Seattle Aquarium. One idea researchers have floated is to use money from otter-generated carbon offsets to compensate fishers for losses in their catch. MA-043219 to R. Davis). Links also do not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Researchers have proposed that sea otters and their evolutionary progenitors could be indirectly responsible for evolution of the unusually large body sizes of the abalone species in the North Pacific Ocean. 2018). 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. The sea otters keystone role in nearshore marine ecosystems was first recognized in 1974, initiating an extensive body of work on sea otters indirect effects, including increases in the abundance of kelp-associated finfish. We used hook-and-line surveys and underwater visual transects at shallow depths (2-25 m) across 20 rocky reef sites and a space-for-time substitution representing variation in sea otter occupation time. Ocean acidification (OA) is another climate-induced process that could indirectly impact sea otters. Skeletal muscle makes up 40 to 50 percent of most mammals body mass, so it affects the whole bodys metabolism. 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. Updates? 2020 Feb;192(2):391-401. doi: 10.1007/s00442-019-04578-8. Such devastation underscores the urgency of restoring balance to the ecosystem by bringing the otters back. This story was produced with additional reporting by Katarina Zimmer. Her work has appeared in Audubon, Sierra, Discover, and elsewhere. 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. 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. 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. A. Estes, C.A. National Library of Medicine At the beginning and end of the event, I conducted a survey using PollEverywhere to learn more about the audience and to gauge the effectiveness of our climate communication. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. 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. 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. The influence of sea otters on coastal ecosystems is one of the most well-known and well-documented examples of a trophic cascade (the complex network of consumer-prey interactions, from apex predators at the top of the food web to plants at the bottom). Wright and colleagues searched for the heat source in otters muscles. Epub 2008 Jun 3. If you liked this story,sign up for the weeklybbc.comfeatures newsletter, called "The Essential List". Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. On June 20, 1938, Life magazine published a photo of what it called one of the rarest sights on eartha large raft of sea otters near Bixby Bridge, south of Monterey. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal This is what makes them a "keystone" species without their presence, the stability of the entire ecosystem can be lost. The final registration number was 1,005 people. Accessibility or, by Guy Lasnier, University of California - Santa Cruz. The talks are catered to a wide range of ages and no science background is required. When kelp dies and washes ashore, carbon returns to the atmosphere during decomposition. devouring the massive, slow-forming limestone reefs, warmer winters in Yellowstone National Park, Social Capital in Black Communities Is Often Overlooked, How Starting Brush Fires Could Save Africa's Disappearing Lions, Do Animals Really Anticipate Earthquakes? In contrast, in areas with otters, the kelp flourished along with the diverse aquatic community that feeds and shelters among the seaweed. They wanted to learn about how they can help, to feel inspired, and to connect with other like-minded people. Epub 2019 Dec 19. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased 40 percent since the beginning of the industrial revolution, causing global temperatures to rise, the authors write. 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. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS 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. | (206) 543-6521, 2023 University of Washington | So what you would expect to happen with the loss of a species in the absence of climate change is not whats going to happen with the loss of that species in the presence of climate change . And this paper is the holy grail of showing that interaction.. Overall, I think the capstone project was quite successful and has received lots of great feedback. Randall Davis (Image obtained under USFWS Marine MammalPermitNo. 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. A lock () or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. We examined the effects of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) reintroduction along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada on giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) distributions and the trophic niches and growth of two common kelp forest fishes, black (Sebastes melanops) and copper (S. caurinus) rockfishes. Many of the participants equated the term climate change negatively (i.e. 2006 Jan;146(4):623-31. doi: 10.1007/s00442-005-0230-1. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Oecologia. The main objectives of this project were to: In 2020, the Seattle Aquarium transitioned its Lightning Talk event to a virtual format. But researchers didnt understand the cellular origins of that revved-up metabolism for heat generation, Wright says. 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. Contrary to our predictions, we found no effects on density of breeding pairs on four islands from 1993-1994 to 2000-2002. He raised some tadpoles separated by species, some with mixed species, and others with mixed species and the dragonfly larvae. 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192, Indirect food web interactions: Sea otters and kelp forest fishes in the Aleutian archipelago, S.E. But otters extreme metabolism helps them stay cozy in the waves. The biologist attributed this improvement from their near-extermination just a few years earlier to the states total protection. Unlike many other marine mammals, they lack blubber, so they keep themselves warm by eating a quarter of their body weight in food a day. Her thesis focused on the impacts of a marine heatwave on coral reef fish communities on the Big Island of Hawaii. Get great science journalism, from the most trusted source, delivered to your doorstep. That's because it can grow really fast up to 60cm (24 inches) a day. Sea otters are lean and compact, the smallest mammals in the ocean, bobbing like furry barrels on waves. If sea otters return, however, their feasting can put the herbivores in check and allow the kelp to flourish once again. The key to that difference has to do with sea otters' voracious appetites. Overall, we found higher fishable biomass of copper rockfish at sites where sea otter occupation was greatest, and evidence that copper rockfish catch rates were higher in relatively larger kelp beds. With no otters around, sea urchins graze voraciously on living kelp. Kelp, urchins, carbon, indigenous participation, and reintroduction are part of the answer. Today, our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them. The events are designed to directly align with the Aquariums mission, to inspire conservation of the marine environment. And if otters continue to rebound across their historic range, that would increase this carbon store and all the ecosystem benefits of otters. Although trophic cascades - the effect of apex predators on progressively lower trophic level species through top-down forcing - have been demonstrated in diverse ecosystems, the broader potential influences of trophic cascades on other species and ecosystem processes are not well studied. "A kelp frond that drifts to the seafloor and decomposes, that carbon might be trapped in the sediments for millennia, even millions of years," says Pearson. While scuba diving around the Aleutian Islands in 2014, marine ecologist Doug Rasher saw little sign of the curtains of lush green kelp forests he would have had to push through decades earlier. 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. 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. www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/110176, Journal information: DOI and the bureaus do not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act. eCollection 2018 Aug. Elakha AlliancePO Box 704Siletz, OR 97380Info@ElakhaAlliance.org, Beyond species-specific considerations, any reintroduction effort must consider ecosystem-level implications. Tour routes of great scenic drives on National Wildlife Refuges. Whereas urchin-dominated communities supported more diverse fish assemblages than kelp-dominated communities, this was not a simple effect of the otter-induced trophic cascade because all islands supported more diverse fish assemblages in 2000 than in the mid-1980s. Sea otter populations along British Columbia's (BC) Central Coast are growing and expanding their range at a rapid rate. Researchers have also uncovered other surprising indirect effects, such as sea otters' beneficial effects on seagrass abundance and even its genetic diversity. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! Some of these effects are perceived as beneficial to people, and others are perceived as negative. Its in their muscles. Sea otters can greatly affect the environment they live in. They will remain accessible to anyone who wants to watch them in the future. For example, Vicknair and Estes (2012) found that sea otters preyed on predatory sea stars, thereby reducing sea star populations and associated mortality rates from sea star predation on filter-feeding mussels and barnacles.. By consuming sea urchins who are not similarly hidden, sea otters change sea urchin behavior. What participants desired most out of the event was to learn and connect. Sea otters have voracious appetites, eating about a quarter of their body weight every day (Credit: Getty Images). Simon Fraser University Library is grateful to be located on the lands of the xmkym (Musqueam), Swxw7mesh (Squamish), slilwta (Tsleil-Waututh), qcy (Katzie), kikm (Kwikwetlem), qiqyt (Qayqayt), qa:nn (Kwantlen), Smym (Semiahmoo), and scwan (Tsawwassen) Nations. 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.

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