This research article talks about how to help the sea otters that are listed on the Endangered Species list in the islands off the coast of Alaska by using their ecosystems. Researchers planned on developing a recovery criterion for the sea otters and its ecosystem on the basis of ecological effectiveness. The reason they did this was because sea otters help preserve sea kelp, which gives off lots of carbon. Sea otters do this by eating sea urchins, which cause kelp forest to deplete. In order to confirm that keeping sea otters within these areas would be efficient for the ecosystem scientist took measurements of kelp and sea urchins in random spots within the coast of the islands. They tested areas that had sea otters at their capacity and other areas that lacked sea otters. The areas that had sea otters showed a low sea urchin biomass and a high kelp population, while the areas with little to no sea otters where shown to have high urchin biomass and low kelp density. These results proved that the rocky reef ecosystem in Alaska’s islands is predictable depending on the presence or absence of sea otters. Researchers hence proved that sea otters helped their ecosystem as much as the ecosystem helped them and they were essential for each others survival, but too many otters would not bring homeostasis to the reef either.
Citation: ESTES, J. A., TINKER, M. T. and BODKIN, J. L. (2010), Using Ecological Function to Develop Recovery Criteria for Depleted Species: Sea Otters and Kelp Forests in the Aleutian Archipelago. Conservation Biology, 24: 852–860. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01428.x
