High prevalence and diversity of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in feral cat feces from coastal California. by Sophie Zhu, Lauren Camp, Anika Patel, Elizabeth VanWormer, Karen Shapiro

“…Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite that can cause severe morbidity and mortality in warm-blooded animals, including marine mammals such as sea otters. Free-ranging cats can shed environmentally resistant T. gondii oocysts in their feces, which are transported through rain-driven runoff from land to sea. …”
Get full text

Impact of the extinct megaherbivore Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) on kelp forest resilience by Peter D. Roopnarine, Peter D. Roopnarine, Roxanne M. W. Banker, Roxanne M. W. Banker, Scott D. Sampson

“…Giant kelp forests off the west coast of North America are maintained primarily by sea otter (Enhydra lutris) and sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) predation of sea urchins. …”
Get full text

Changes in Abiotic Drivers of Green Sea Urchin Demographics following the Loss of a Keystone Predator by B. P. Weitzman, B. Konar, M. S. Edwards, D. B. Rasher, M. C. Kenner, M. T. Tinker, J. A. Estes

“…In this study, sea urchin populations were surveyed across 15 Aleutian archipelago islands over a 30-year period to understand how patterns of sea urchin demography (density, biomass, and size structure) varied through different ecological regimes that were caused by changes in the abundance of sea otters, a keystone species in this system. To examine long-term changes in sea urchin demographics, four time periods across the recent decline of sea otters were examined: during sea otter presence (1987-1994), nearing absence at the end of the decline (1997-2000), 10 years postdecline (2008-2010), and 15-20 years following the loss of sea otters from the ecosystem (2014-2017). …”
Get full text

Otter research in Asia: Trends, biases and future directions by Aarati Basnet, Prashant Ghimire, Yajna Prasad Timilsina, Bhuwan Singh Bist

“…Overall, our review shows that the status, distribution and trend of Asian otter population is still limited and more research is needed for less studied otter species, such as the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) and Pacific populations of the sea otter (Enhydra lutris). We also found that information on the potential impacts of climate change on otter species, and taxonomy as well as phylogenetic relationships among Asian otters is limited. …”
Get full text

Detection and characterization of diverse coccidian protozoa shed by California sea lions by Yvette A. Girard, Christine K. Johnson, Heather M. Fritz, Karen Shapiro, Andrea E. Packham, Ann C. Melli, Daphne Carlson-Bremer, Frances M. Gulland, Daniel Rejmanek, Patricia A. Conrad

“…Tissue-cyst forming coccidia in the family Sarcocystidae are etiologic agents of protozoal encephalitis in marine mammals including the federally listed Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris). California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), whose coastal habitat overlaps with sea otters, are definitive hosts for coccidian protozoa provisionally named Coccidia A, B and C. …”
Get full text

Sex and occupation time influence niche space of a recovering keystone predator by Erin U. Rechsteiner, Jane C. Watson, M. Tim Tinker, Linda M. Nichol, Matthew J. Morgan Henderson, Christie J. McMillan, Mike DeRoos, Marie C. Fournier, Anne K. Salomon, Leah D. Honka, Chris T. Darimont

“…We used a space‐for‐time substitution to make foraging observations of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) across a gradient of reoccupation time (1–30 years), and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis to ask whether (a) sea otter niche space varies as a function of occupation time and (b) whether niche space varies by sex. …”
Get full text

Diffusion modeling reveals effects of multiple release sites and human activity on a recolonizing apex predator by Joseph M. Eisaguirre, Perry J. Williams, Xinyi Lu, Michelle L. Kissling, William S. Beatty, George G. Esslinger, Jamie N. Womble, Mevin B. Hooten

“…Further, we found that the intrinsic growth rate of sea otters may be higher than previous estimates suggested. …”
Get full text

Nasopulmonary mites (Acari: Halarachnidae) as potential vectors of bacterial pathogens, including Streptococcus phocae, in marine mammals. by Risa Pesapane, Andrea Chaves, Janet Foley, Nadia Javeed, Samantha Barnum, Katherine Greenwald, Erin Dodd, Christine Fontaine, Padraig Duignan, Michael Murray, Melissa Miller

“…Using 16S rRNA massively parallel amplicon sequencing of six hypervariable regions (or "16S profiling"), we characterized the bacterial community of NPMs from 4 southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). This data was paired with detection of a priority pathogen, Streptococcus phocae, from NPMs infesting 16 southern sea otters and 9 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) using nested conventional polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). …”
Get full text

Nasopulmonary mites (Acari: Halarachnidae) as potential vectors of bacterial pathogens, including Streptococcus phocae, in marine mammals by Risa Pesapane, Andrea Chaves, Janet Foley, Nadia Javeed, Samantha Barnum, Katherine Greenwald, Erin Dodd, Christine Fontaine, Padraig Duignan, Michael Murray, Melissa Miller

“…Using 16S rRNA massively parallel amplicon sequencing of six hypervariable regions (or “16S profiling”), we characterized the bacterial community of NPMs from 4 southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). This data was paired with detection of a priority pathogen, Streptococcus phocae, from NPMs infesting 16 southern sea otters and 9 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) using nested conventional polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). …”
Get full text

A bio-inspired and self-powered triboelectric tactile sensor for underwater vehicle perception by Peng Xu, Jianhua Liu, Xiangyu Liu, Xinyu Wang, Jiaxi Zheng, Siyuan Wang, Tianyu Chen, Hao Wang, Chuan Wang, Xianping Fu, Guangming Xie, Jin Tao, Minyi Xu

“…It is enabled by a three-dimensional structure that mimics the leathery, granular texture in the palms of sea otters, whose inner neural architecture provides additional clues indicating the importance of tactile information. …”
Get full text

Megafauna in Salt Marshes by Leo C. Gaskins, Avery B. Paxton, Brian R. Silliman

“…We conducted a literature review to document the variety of megafauna in salt marshes and found that 34 species utilize salt marshes, including sharks, manatees, pinnipeds, crocodilians, sea otters, hippos, and large terrestrial animals, such as lions, bears and water buffalo. …”
Get full text

Which states matter? An application of an intelligent discretization method to solve a continuous POMDP in conservation biology. by Sam Nicol, Iadine Chadès

“…We apply our method to a population of sea otters and explore the trade-off between allocating resources to management and monitoring. …”
Get full text

Swimming sentinels : climate clues from stranded marine mammals by Geib, Claudia M. (Claudia Marjorie)

Get full text

A Global Review of Vessel Collisions With Marine Animals by Renée P. Schoeman, Claire Patterson-Abrolat, Stephanie Plön

“…However, our review found that at least 75 marine species are affected, including smaller whales, dolphins, porpoises, dugongs, manatees, whale sharks, sharks, seals, sea otters, sea turtles, penguins, and fish. Collision incidents with smaller species are scarce, likely as a result of reporting biases. …”
Get full text

'Natural experiment' demonstrates top-down control of spiders by birds on a landscape level. by Haldre Rogers, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Ross Miller, Joshua J Tewksbury

“…The most compelling natural experiments have come from studies examining the landscape-scale loss of apex predators like sea otters, wolves, fish and land crabs. Birds are dominant apex predators in terrestrial systems around the world, yet all studies on their role as predators have come from small-scale experiments; the top-down impact of bird loss on their arthropod prey has yet to be examined at a landscape scale. …”
Get full text

Bioerosion by pit-forming, temperate-reef sea urchins: History, rates and broader implications. by Michael P Russell, Victoria K Gibbs, Emily Duwan

“…The phase shift between urchin barrens and kelp bed habitats in the North Pacific is controlled by the trophic cascade of sea otters. By limiting urchin populations, these apex predators also may indirectly control a substantial component of coastal rates of bioerosion.…”
Get full text

Comparative Ecology of Bartonella and Brucella Infections in Wild Carnivores by Michael Kosoy, Irina Goodrich

“…Among them were bobcats, African lions, golden jackals, coyotes, wolves, foxes, striped skunks, sea otters, raccoons, and harbor seals. The most common species of Bartonella in wild carnivores was B. henselae, found in 23 species, followed by B. rochalimae in 12, B. clarridgeiae in ten, and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii in seven. …”
Get full text

A Systematic Review of Changes in Marine Mammal Health in North America, 1972-2012: The Need for a Novel Integrated Approach. by Claire A Simeone, Frances M D Gulland, Tenaya Norris, Teresa K Rowles

“…Certain protozoal and fungal zoonoses appear to be emerging, such as Toxoplasma gondii in southern sea otters in California, and Cryptococcus gattii in cetaceans in the Pacific Northwest. …”
Get full text

Self-mating in the definitive host potentiates clonal outbreaks of the apicomplexan parasites Sarcocystis neurona and Toxoplasma gondii. by Jered M Wendte, Melissa A Miller, Dyanna M Lambourn, Spencer L Magargal, David A Jessup, Michael E Grigg

“…We applied high-resolution genotyping against strains isolated from a T. gondii waterborne outbreak that caused symptomatic disease in 155 immune-competent people in Brazil and a S. neurona outbreak that resulted in a mass mortality event in Southern sea otters. In both cases, a single, genetically distinct clone was found infecting outbreak-exposed individuals. …”
Get full text

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) Reintroduction Can Limit Woody Plant Proliferation in Grasslands by Sarah L. Hale, John L. Koprowski, Steven R. Archer

“…Whereas the reintroduction of large or charismatic keystone species [e.g., sea otters (Enhydra lutris)] are conducted to restore critical ecological function, reintroductions of other keystone species, such as gray wolves (Canis lupus) and in our case, prairie dogs, are highly controversial. …”
Get full text