期刊
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
卷 289, 期 1967, 页码 -出版社
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1697
关键词
trophic cascade; alternative stable states; risk landscapes; management
资金
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- UC Santa Cruz
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- National Science Foundation [OCE-1752600]
- National Park Service
- US Geological Survey
Recognizing that humans are part of the complex interaction networks we study can provide new insights into ecological paradigms. This study examines the effects of human harvesting on otter-urchin-kelp trophic cascades in southeast Alaska, using three decades of time-series data.
Humans were considered external drivers in much foundational ecological research. A recognition that humans are embedded in the complex interaction networks we study can provide new insight into our ecological paradigms. Here, we use time-series data spanning three decades to explore the effects of human harvesting on otter-urchin-kelp trophic cascades in southeast Alaska. These effects were inferred from variation in sea urchin and kelp abundance following the post fur trade repatriation of otters and a subsequent localized reduction of otters by human harvest in one location. In an example of a classic trophic cascade, otter repatriation was followed by a 99% reduction in urchin biomass density and a greater than 99% increase in kelp density region wide. Recent spatially concentrated harvesting of otters was associated with a localized 70% decline in otter abundance in one location, with urchins increasing and kelps declining in accordance with the spatial pattern of otter occupancy within that region. While the otter-urchin-kelp trophic cascade has been associated with alternative community states at the regional scale, this research highlights how small-scale variability in otter occupancy, ostensibly due to spatial variability in harvesting or the risk landscape for otters, can result in within-region patchiness in these community states.
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