The importance of healthy ecosystems and stable animal
populations can be demonstrated by a recent study in California showing that
healthy sea otter
(Enhydra lutris) populations can have
an effect on carbon sequestration. Healthy populations of sea otters keep sea
urchins populations under control; allowing kelp forests to thrive. Kelp forests
are very efficient at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
Researchers agree that increasing otter populations will not
cure the CO2 problem, but the study demonstrates that “managing animal
populations can affect ecosystems abilities to sequester carbon” (SD, 2012).
Mitigating the rise of carbon released into the atmosphere
is an ever increasing environmental issue. Helping animals could be a big boost
for the environment as well. To read more on the study go
here; or see the reference to the complete journal article below.
Here is another article
on carbon sequestration in marine ecosystems.
Side note:
Sea otters are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of
Endangered Species. World populations of sea otters fell to 1,000–2,000. Bans on
hunting along with several reintroduction and conservation programs have helped to restore
otter populations, but they are recovering slowly. You may read more here.
References: (Please note these references are not properly
formatted for use in student papers- you
must reformat them to your proper style).
Chris Wilmers, James Estes, Matthew Edwards, Kristin L.
Laidre and Brenda Konar. Do trophic cascades affect the storage of flux of
atmospheric carbon? An analysis of sea otters and kelp forests. Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment, 2012 (in press)
Science Daily
image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_otter_cropped.jpg
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