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

While working on remote Alaskan islands, he found where sea otters were absent, sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking kelp forests. He concluded the small mammals were integral to maintaining ...

The sea urchin-kelp dynamic has been well-studied, but this is the first study that looks beyond that relationship to the impacts on zooplankton that inhabit the kelp forest and their predators ...

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, forests ...

A group of microscopic sunflower sea star larva arrived at Shedd Aquarium last year and have been bulking up behind the ...

sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking kelp forests. He concluded the small mammal was integral to maintaining harmony in coastal reef ecosystems: by feeding on sea urchins they in turn ...

sea urchin populations mushroomed, overtaking kelp forests. He concluded the small mammal was integral to maintaining harmony in coastal reef ecosystems: by feeding on sea urchins they in turn ...