Can the sunflower sea star aid the recovery of kelp forests?

Your average sunflower sea star can munch through almost five purple sea urchins in a week, and they don’t seem to be picky about the quality of their food. That’s good news — and valuable data — for efforts to reintroduce these now-endangered predators to coastal ecosystems along the west coast of North America. It suggests that if sunflower sea stars returned to their former habitats, they could help keep hungry urchin populations in check and possibly help restore kelp forests. A team co-led by Aaron Galloway at the UO’s Oregon Institute of Marine Biology published the findings in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Feb. 15. Galloway spearheaded the work alongside Sarah Gravem at Oregon State University. Learn about these findings during this lecture.