Sea otters: Their role in structuring nearshore communities
Estes JA and Palmisano JF. 1974. Sea otters: Their role in structuring nearshore communities. Science. 185(4156):1058-1060
A comparison of western Aleutian Islands with and without sea otter populations shows that this species is important in determining littoral and sublittoral cummunity structure. Sea otters control herbivours invertebrate populations. Removal of sea otters causes increased herbivory and ultimately results in the destruction of macrophyte associations. The observations suggest that sea otter reestablishment indirectly affects island fauna associated with macrophyte primary productivity.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Estes, J; Palmisano, J
- Units
- GLBA , SEAN
- Keywords
- communties, Ecosystems, Enhydra lutris, Food, Prey, Sea Otters