Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Foster, Erin
• Watson, Jane
• Lemay, Matthew A
• Tinker, M Tim
• Estes, James A
• Piercey, Rebecca
• Henson, Lauren
• Ritland, Carol
• Miscampbell, Allyson
• Nichol, Linda
• Hessing-Lewis, Margot
• Salomon, Anne K
• Darimont, Chris T

Titel

Physical disturbance by recovering sea otter populations increases eelgrass genetic diversity

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2021-10, Vol.374 (6565), p.333-336

Ort / Verlag

United States: The American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Most knowledge regarding the role of predators is ecological in nature. Here, we report how disturbance generated by sea otters ( ) digging for infaunal prey in eelgrass ( ) meadows increases genetic diversity by promoting conditions for sexual reproduction of plants. Eelgrass allelic richness and genotypic diversity were, respectively, 30 and 6% higher in areas where recovering sea otter populations had been established for 20 to 30 years than in areas where they had been present <10 years or absent >100 years. The influence of sea otter occupancy on the aforementioned measures of genetic diversity was stronger than those of depth, temperature, latitude, or meadow size. Our findings reveal an underappreciated evolutionary process by which megafauna may promote genetic diversity and ecological resilience.