Sea otters save marshes

A new study shows that sea otters are having a positive impact on salt marshes (wetlands located near the sea) in California, US. This is because the otters eat shore crabs, stopping them from damaging the habitat. The study was published in January and is based on decades worth of data collected around Elkhorn Slough, a salt marsh in California that is home to the state’s largest sea otter population. Salt marshes are very important. They support a lot of wildlife; they soak up carbon dioxide (a gas that causes climate change); and they stop pollution washing out to sea. Salt marshes are a very threatened habitat, partly because of rising sea levels causing erosion (wearing away). However, erosion at Elkhorn Slough had begun to slow and the scientists suspected…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 427

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