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Monday, February 5, 2001
Scientist: Predators like sea otter are important to nature's balance
California researcher to give speech at UT Marine Science Institute
By Dan Parker
Caller-Times
A California research scientist will speak Tuesday about the ecological importance of predators like sea otters, coyotes and killer whales, part of a series of public lectures at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.
"Large carnivores are important in regulating the populations of many of their prey species in possibly most ecosystems," said Jim Estes, a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct professor of biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. "When big predators are taken out, the grazers (like deer) have become super abundant, causing major disruptions to the whole foundations in which these creatures live."
Estes will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the visitors center auditorium at the Marine Science Institute.
He is coming to Port Aransas through the Laura Randall Schweppe Endowed Lecture Series. The series brings noted scientists from all over the country to the Marine Science Institute to interact with staff, faculty and students to foster new ideas and research collaborations, said Lee Fuiman, an associate professor of marine science at the institute. Evening lectures given by the scientists are free and open to the public.
"We want people to take advantage of the opportunity of having these accomplished scientists in Port Aransas to convey to the public the kind of research going on in the world," said Fuiman, chairman of the lecture series. "For us, it's a way of bringing science to the people."
Estes said he will talk about a variety of predators, including sea otters, a subject on which he is recognized as an international expert.
Sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean were almost wiped out by the fur trade from the mid-1700s to the early 1900s, producing other big ecological changes.
While the otter population was down, kelp forests massively declined because otters weren't present to feed on sea urchins, which eat kelp.
With kelp deforestation came an explosion of shellfish species like abalone and crabs, creating new fisheries for commercial and recreational harvesters. On the other hand, Estes said, the absence of kelp also caused erosion along coastlines because there was no kelp to block waves.
An international treaty signed into law in 1911 protected sea otters, sparking a dramatic recovery for sea otter populations. Now they've spread into habitats they hadn't occupied for decades, eating shellfish that are important to commercial and recreational shellfish harvesters, Estes said.
Human populations should be careful about dealing with seals and other predators, Estes said.
"But it's more of a question of trying to understand what the potential consequences of restoring these (animal populations) might be or how we want to manage (areas) with or without these creatures," Estes said. Reduced predator populations produce both good and bad results.
"It's a complicated world, and there are human costs and benefits to all these changes."
Staff writer Dan Parker can be reached at 886-3746 or by e-mail at parkerd@caller.com
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