The rich resources of Pacific kelp forests helped humans populate the Americas. Now depleted by as much as 95 percent, they ...

When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers ...

New CU Boulder research found sea otters, an important keystone species, play a vital role in kelp forest recovery ... where sea otters were absent, sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking ...

Sea otters help kelp forests recover by controlling sea urchins, but their impact varies. In British Columbia, recovery was ...

New CU Boulder research found sea otters, an important keystone species, play a vital role in kelp forest recovery ... where sea otters were absent, sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking ...

New CU Boulder research found sea otters, an important keystone species, play a vital role in kelp forest recovery ... where sea otters were absent, sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking ...

Adorably fuzzy sea otters aren’t just cute. The marine mammals serve a crucial role, helping to restore the giant kelp forests they rely on by removing their top predators, the sea urchins.

Both areas were mostly ‘urchin barrens’ – sites where sea urchins had overgrazed in the absence of sea otters – when the studies began. But while kelp grew back off both coasts ...

However, they are threatened by storms, pollution, warming waters, and overharvesting. Sea otter population growth during the last century has enhanced kelp forest resilience, according to researchers ...

Sea otter population growth during the last century has enhanced kelp forest resilience, according to researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When studying sea otters along the coastlines of ...

Both areas were mostly ‘urchin barrens’ – sites where sea urchins had overgrazed in the absence of sea otters – when the studies began. But while kelp grew back off both coasts, forests in British ...