California sea otters may be reducing erosion as they recolonize historic habitat

Conservation meets climate resilience in Monterey Bay. A recently published study of monitoring of the Monterey Bay Elkhorn Slough estuary shows that despite sea level rise and other stresses, a restored sea otter population is slowing erosion of salt marsh edges. Predator-exclusion experiments revealed that sea otters suppress the abundance of burrowing crabs that feed on grass pickleweed which stabilize the marsh.