How is the California sea otter a keystone species?
Sea otters are a “keystone species” which means that they can exert top-down pressure via predation on sea urchins, which are grazers upon kelp. These top down influences on prey nearshore prey species can result in changes in community structure including maintaining a more diverse nearshore ecosystem.
What role do sea otters play in their ecosystem?
Sea otters are a keystone species, meaning their role in their environment has a greater effect than other species. By maintaining healthy kelp forests, sea otters also indirectly help to reduce levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prevalent greenhouse gas, as kelp absorbs and sequesters carbon.
Are sea otters a keystone species in the California coastline ecosystem?
Sea otters are a keystone species in their native coastal environments. They prey on small herbivorous sea creatures like sea urchins, which can lead to more kelp and healthier seagrass in an area. Restoring populations is not as simple as bringing in new otters, though.
Why are sea otters important to the kelp forest?
The sea otter is an important part of both of these habitats — It’s a keystone species, which means that the health of sea otters is a good indication of the health of other species and ecosystems nearby. In the kelp forest, it eats sea urchins and other animals that graze on giant kelp.
Where are sea otters keystone species?
Sea otters are an iconic species, representing the beauty and diversity of marine life found along California’s coastline. They’re also considered a keystone species because of their critical importance to the health and stability of the nearshore marine ecosystem.
Why are river otters keystone species?
Because they have a low tolerance for polluted water, river otters are considered by some naturalists to be a good indicator, or “keystone,” species of the quality of aquatic habitats.
Why are otters a keystone species in kelp forests?
The presence of sea otters can protect a kelp forest. They eat large amounts of sea urchins, which keeps the creature’s numbers in check and prevents the destruction of the kelp forest. Sea otters are a keystone species of the coastline ecosystem.
Is the sea otter a keystone species on the Pacific Northwest coast?
The sea otter is a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest. That doesn’t mean they indulge in red solo cups full of cheap beer. Rather, their role in the environment has a far larger ecological effect than other species in the same environment.
What is an example of a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest?
A common example of a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest is the sea otter. Sea otters are marine mammals that feed on sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and other shelled animals.
What species rely on sea otters?
In this manner, sea otters are keystone predators in the kelp forests where they live. They are not at the top of the food web, however, and are eaten by orcas, great white sharks and other large predators.
Why are sea otters considered a keystone species?
No Sea Otters. No Kelp Forests. Sea otters are an iconic species, representing the beauty and diversity of marine life found along California’s coastline. They’re also considered a keystone species because of their critical importance to the health and stability of the nearshore marine ecosystem….
What kind of food does a sea otter eat?
Sea otters are one of the few animals that can eat sea urchins. When the otters disappeared, the sea urchin population grew very quickly. Soon there were more sea urchins on the California coast than ever before. Sea urchins eat kelp. With so many more sea urchins, they ate up all the kelp beds.
Where does the southern sea otter live in California?
Today, its range is principally along the central California coast from Monterey Bay to Point Conception. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the southern sea otter population as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1977 and adopted a recovery plan for the population 1982, which was updated in 2003.
Why was the southern sea otter listed as a threatened species?
But due to the fur trade, their numbers plummeted in the early 1900s. The threat to the southern sea otter posed by oil spills prompted its listing as a threatened species in 1977.