Changes in Abiotic Drivers of Green Sea Urchin Demographics following the Loss of a Keystone Predator

<div>Metric MDS plot of sea urchin size distribution by island and time period of sea otter status. Bubble size depicts the average recruitment index (proportion of sea <svg height="10.4277pt" id="M73" style="vertical-align:-1.1198pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -9.3079 90.4278 10.4277" width="90.4278pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M518 50L491 51C452 54 444 60 444 110V444C429 441 405 437 377 434C348 430 314 427 287 426V403L323 397C356 392 365 386 365 333V99C331 66 293 51 257 51C212 51 169 75 169 164V299C169 366 169 413 172 444C156 441 128 437 101 433C75 430 50 427 29 426V403L57 397C82 391 90 386 90 333V137C90 29 147 -12 214 -12C241 -12 262 -4 291 13S342 48 365 65V-6L371 -12C390 -7 415 1 441 8C468 15 496 21 518 24V50Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,6.903,0)"><path d="M181 342V451C133 431 89 419 40 411V388C98 381 102 377 102 311V104C102 38 95 32 33 26V0H263V26C186 32 181 38 181 104V287C203 343 235 372 261 372C277 372 289 366 304 352C310 346 318 345 330 350C349 359 362 379 362 399C362 422 338 449 304 449C256 449 213 393 183 342H181Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.556,0)"><path d="M390 111C344 68 312 56 269 56C212 56 118 102 118 241C118 346 175 401 241 401C277 401 312 388 342 360C350 352 355 349 361 349C372 349 394 371 394 392C394 403 391 411 378 422C362 436 329 449 288 449H287C250 449 190 432 138 392C71 341 37 274 37 197C37 90 112 -12 238 -12C297 -12 363 32 407 90L390 111Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,16.977,0)"><path d="M513 0V26C455 31 447 37 447 103V278C447 398 390 449 309 449C255 449 202 412 166 376V712C127 700 67 684 19 677V653C85 647 87 643 87 580V103C87 37 79 31 19 26L18 0H231V26C171 32 166 39 166 103V341C194 373 232 392 270 392C337 392 368 351 368 269V103C368 38 360 32 302 26V0H513Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,23.919,0)"><path d="M135 536C164 536 186 560 186 587C186 617 164 639 136 639C109 639 85 617 85 587C85 560 109 536 135 536ZM252 0V26C188 32 181 38 181 106V451C138 433 90 420 39 412V388C99 379 102 374 102 312V106C102 38 95 32 32 26V0H252Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,27.403,0)"><path d="M524 0V26C466 32 460 36 460 104V297C460 393 411 449 331 449C302 449 276 437 248 419C223 402 201 387 181 372V451C137 432 90 420 42 411V388C96 378 102 374 102 310V104C102 38 97 33 29 26V0H246V26C187 32 181 36 181 104V339C211 365 250 390 290 390C357 390 381 345 381 276V109C381 40 374 32 315 26V0H524Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,34.41,0)"><path d="M319 325C317 349 306 409 297 431C277 440 250 449 209 449C117 449 57 389 57 319C57 243 122 209 182 182C232 159 261 135 261 91C261 48 227 21 190 21C130 21 85 79 68 145L41 140C41 104 51 36 58 22C75 7 121 -12 172 -12C252 -12 337 35 337 126C337 195 286 231 210 262C166 281 126 304 126 348C126 388 152 417 191 417C240 417 274 378 294 318L319 325Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,42.961,0)"><path d="M531 71V127L115 310L531 494V550L57 335V285L531 71ZM531 -40V10H57V-40H531Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,54.224,0)"><path d="M412 140C382 77 369 73 315 73H129L270 222C362 320 402 379 402 466C402 571 322 635 234 635C177 635 130 609 99 576L42 495L64 475C90 514 133 568 201 568C274 568 318 519 318 435C318 349 255 267 193 193C144 135 87 78 32 23V0H405C417 45 427 89 440 131L412 140Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,60.464,0)"><path d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,68.879,0)"><path d="M797 0V26C739 32 732 36 732 103V296C732 394 682 449 605 449C576 449 550 437 529 423C504 407 475 389 446 366C425 418 382 449 334 449C303 449 279 437 253 421C222 403 201 385 180 371V452C135 432 85 419 41 411V388C99 379 102 374 102 310V103C102 38 93 32 27 26V0H238V26C189 32 180 38 180 103V338C210 363 250 390 289 390C351 390 377 348 377 275V103C377 37 368 32 306 26V0H520V26C465 32 456 38 456 101V296C456 314 455 326 453 338C491 369 529 390 565 390C628 390 653 345 653 274V107C653 36 642 32 583 26V0H797Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,79.526,0)"><path d="M797 0V26C739 32 732 36 732 103V296C732 394 682 449 605 449C576 449 550 437 529 423C504 407 475 389 446 366C425 418 382 449 334 449C303 449 279 437 253 421C222 403 201 385 180 371V452C135 432 85 419 41 411V388C99 379 102 374 102 310V103C102 38 93 32 27 26V0H238V26C189 32 180 38 180 103V338C210 363 250 390 289 390C351 390 377 348 377 275V103C377 37 368 32 306 26V0H520V26C465 32 456 38 456 101V296C456 314 455 326 453 338C491 369 529 390 565 390C628 390 653 345 653 274V107C653 36 642 32 583 26V0H797Z"></path></g></svg> per 0.25 m<sup>-2</sup>) for each island period. Arrows sequentially connect the periods from predecline to end of decline to postdecline 1 to postdecline 2, except where only 3 points are connected and end of decline data were not available. Some islands were excluded due to no predecline data (Atka) or limited sample size (Umnak and Unalaska).</div>

Journal of Marine Sciences

fig5

Figure 5

Figure 5: Changes in Abiotic Drivers of Green Sea Urchin Demographics following the Loss of a Keystone Predator 