Most knowledge regarding the role of predators is ecological in nature. Here, we report how disturbance generated by sea otters (Enhydra lutris) digging for infaunal prey in eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows increases genetic diversity by promoting conditions for sexual reproduction of plants. Eelgrass allelic richness and genotypic diversity were, respectively, 30 and 6% higher in areas where recovering sea otter populations had been established for 20 to 30 years than in areas where they had been present <10 years or absent >100 years. The influence of sea otter occupancy on the aforementioned measures of genetic diversity was stronger than those of depth, temperature, latitude, or meadow size. Our findings reveal an underappreciated evolutionary process by which megafauna may promote genetic diversity and ecological resilience.

中文翻译：

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恢复海獭种群造成的物理干扰增加了鳗草的遗传多样性

大多数关于捕食者作用的知识本质上是生态学的。在这里，我们报告海獭 ( Enhydra lutris ) 在鳗草 ( Zostera marina ) 中挖掘动物猎物时如何产生干扰) 草甸通过促进植物有性繁殖的条件来增加遗传多样性。在海獭种群恢复期已建立 20 至 30 年的地区，鳗草等位基因的丰富度和基因型多样性分别比在海獭种群存在 <10 年或不存在 >100 年的地区高出 30% 和 6%。海獭栖息对上述遗传多样性测量的影响强于深度、温度、纬度或草地大小。我们的研究结果揭示了一个被低估的进化过程，巨型动物可能通过这个过程促进遗传多样性和生态恢复力。