California sheephead and spiny lobsters may be helping control sea urchin populations in Southern California kelp forests, where sea otters—a top urchin predator—have long been missing, according to a new San Diego State University (SDSU) study published in the journal Ecology. The research provides new insight into the complex predator-prey relationships in kelp forests that can be seen in the absence of sea otters.

The kelp forests of California are one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the state, providing a home to more than 800 species of plants and animals. 2 Beginning in 2013, a “perfect storm” of kelp stressors led to the loss of more than 93 percent of the bull kelp along the coast of Northern California.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4963

The “marine heat wave” is triggering a “continental-scale collapse of a pivotal predator,” says new study.

There is a growing movement among scientists in Oregon and the West Coast to get the Sunflower sea stars listed as an endangered species.

A pronounced, widespread and persistent regime shift among marine ecosystems is observable on temperate rocky reefs as a result of sea urchin overgrazing.