A healthy forest of giant kelp, in Monterey Bay. (Photo by Michael Langhans) In this urchin barren in Monterey Bay, grazing by purple sea urchins has removed kelp and other algae from the rocky reef. ...

Restoring underwater kelp forests by culling overgrazing sea urchins would deliver significant financial benefits, a new ...

Restoring Port Phillip Bay’s dwindling kelp forests by culling overgrazing sea urchins would deliver more than $92 million in ...

Kelp forest ecosystems also have other urchin predators than just otters and they can also play a beneficial role. ... the red sea urchin commercial fishery is a big part of many livelihoods.

Sea otters float amid a forest of kelp off California’s Central Coast. Mario Tama / Getty Images. Sea otters are not just cute and lovable—they also help a crucial habitat flourish.

Kelp forest ecosystems also have other urchin predators than just otters and they can also play a beneficial role. ... the red sea urchin commercial fishery is a big part of many livelihoods.

The sea stars consumed an average of 0.68 urchins a day, and when the urchins were starving, like they are in nutrient-poor urchin barrens, sea stars ate even more.

With its ability to grow to as big as three feet across, armed with up to 24 limbs covered with tiny suction tubes, the sunflower star is a purple urchin-eating machine. But Bank said the sunflower ...

Sea urchins, a native species in NSW, have exploded in numbers, grazing on healthy kelp forests until only an eerie moonscape remains. The urchin barrens already cover 50 per cent of the NSW coast ...

Sea otters are keystone species in kelp forests. Kelp forests rely on the top-down pressure sea otters exert via predation on sea urchins. By controlling the sea urchin population, they help ...