| sea otters homogenize mussel beds and reduce habitat provisioning in a rocky intertidal ecosystem. | sea otters (enhydra lutris) are keystone predators that consume a variety of benthic invertebrates, including the intertidal mussel, mytilus californianus. by virtue of their competitive dominance, large size, and longevity, m. californianus are ecosystem engineers that form structurally complex beds that provide habitat for diverse invertebrate communities. we investigated whether otters affect mussel bed characteristics (i.e. mussel length distributions, mussel bed depth, and biomass) and asso ... | 2013 | 23717697 |
| sediment-associated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in coastal british columbia, canada: concentrations, composition, and associated risks to protected sea otters. | sediment-associated hydrocarbons can pose a risk to wildlife that rely on benthic marine food webs. we measured hydrocarbons in sediments from the habitat of protected sea otters in coastal british columbia, canada. alkane concentrations were dominated by higher odd-chain n-alkanes at all sites, indicating terrestrial plant inputs. while remote sites were dominated by petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs), small harbour sites within sea otter habitat and sites from an urban referenc ... | 2011 | 21719172 |
| kelp forest size alters microbial community structure and function on vancouver island, canada. | bacteria are ubiquitous and important components of marine ecosystems, yet the interaction between bacteria and higher trophic levels remain poorly understood. the trophic cascade involving sea otters, urchins, and kelp in the north pacific is a classic case of altered ecosystem states; however, its impacts on microbial communities are unknown. we investigated the response of microbial communities to variation in kelp abundance between regions with and without sea otter populations along the wes ... | 2015 | 26236881 |
| oil spills and marine mammals in british columbia, canada: development and application of a risk-based conceptual framework. | marine mammals are inherently vulnerable to oil spills. we developed a conceptual framework to evaluate the impacts of potential oil exposure on marine mammals and applied it to 21 species inhabiting coastal british columbia (bc), canada. oil spill vulnerability was determined by examining both the likelihood of species-specific (individual) oil exposure and the consequent likelihood of population-level effects. oil exposure pathways, ecology, and physiological characteristics were first used to ... | 2017 | 28695252 |
| hydrocarbon concentrations and patterns in free-ranging sea otters (enhydra lutris) from british columbia, canada. | with oil pollution recognized as a major threat to british columbia's recovering sea otter (enhydra lutris) population, it is important to distinguish acute from chronic exposures to oil constituent groups in this marine mammal. concentrations and patterns of alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs) were determined in blood samples from 29 live-captured sea otters in two coastal areas of british columbia, as well as in representative samples of their invertebrate prey. hydrocarbon con ... | 2011 | 21769923 |