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At one point, it was nearly impossible to see sea otters along the west coast of the United States.
有一段时间，在美国西海岸几乎不可能看到海獭。
The animals were hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s.
这种动物在19世纪几乎被猎杀到灭绝。
People paid for their fur.
人们花钱买它们的皮毛。
At one point, only about 2,000 remained.
有一段时间，只剩下大约2000只海獭。
Most lived in the waters off Alaska.
大多数海獭生活在阿拉斯加附近的水域。
But by the 1980s, the animals started to recover.
但到了20世纪80年代，这种动物的数量开始恢复。
Three programs helped increase their population in northern California.
在加州北部，有三个项目帮助增加了它们的数量。
First, hunters were banned from killing the otters.
首先，猎人被禁止猎杀海獭。
Next, an environmental program restored the wetlands where the otters once lived.
其次，一个环境项目恢复了海獭曾经生活过的湿地。
And finally, California's Monterey Bay Aquarium began to raise otters and release them into the wild.
最后，加利福尼亚州的蒙特雷湾水族馆开始饲养海獭，并将它们放归野外。
For about 40 years, the animals have been back in the seaside area called Elkhorn Slough.
大约40年来，这种动物已经回到了埃尔克霍恩沼泽地的海边地区。
It is between Monterey and San Francisco.
它位于蒙特雷和旧金山之间。
Brent Hughes is studying how the otters' return affected the environment.
布伦特·休斯正在研究海獭的回归对环境的影响。
He is a marine ecologist at nearby Sonoma State University.
他是附近索诺马州立大学的海洋生态学家。
He recently published a report in the science journal Nature.
他最近在科学杂志《自然》上发表了一篇报告。
Hughes and his team looked at a wetland area called a tidal estuary.
休斯和他的团队研究了一片叫做潮汐河口的湿地区域。
The researchers found that the otters perform a service that keeps the area from eroding -- or wearing away.
研究人员发现，海獭的作用是防止该地区被侵蚀。
Hughes said the otters feed on a destructive shellfish called the striped shore crab.
休斯说，海獭以一种名为条纹岸蟹的破坏性贝类为食。
The crabs dig into the mud and sand and bite the roots of a marsh grass known as pickleweed.
这种螃蟹挖泥和沙子，咬一种被称为盐角草的沼泽草的根。
Pickleweed holds the soil in place during coastal flooding.
在沿海洪水泛滥时，盐角草可以防止土壤流失。
The holes the crabs make cause the area to look like "Swiss cheese," Hughes said.
休斯说，这种螃蟹挖的洞让这片区域看起来像“瑞士奶酪”。
Swiss cheese is a kind of cheese with many holes.
瑞士奶酪是一种有很多洞的奶酪。
For the new study, researchers examined erosion rates dating back to the 1930s.
在这项新研究中，研究人员分析了20世纪30年代以来的侵蚀率。
The historical data help the researchers understand the effects of sea otters' return to the area.
这些历史数据帮助研究人员了解海獭重返该地区的影响。
The researchers also set up fences that prevented the otters from entering certain areas for three years.
研究人员还设置了栅栏，在三年内阻止海獭进入某些区域。
In the fenced-off section of the estuary, the scientists say the soil eroded much more quickly.
科学家表示，在河口用栅栏围起来的部分，土壤侵蚀得更快。
Hughes said the otters "don't completely reverse erosion but slow it down to natural levels."
休斯说，海獭“不能完全逆转侵蚀，但会减缓侵蚀速度，使其恢复到自然水平。”
The otter study is one of several research projects that follow what happens to an area when a top predator returns after a long period of time.
海獭研究是关注顶级捕食者在很长一段时间后返回时一个地区会发生什么的项目之一。
A famous past study looked at the return of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park.
过去一项著名的研究是关于灰狼重返黄石国家公园的。
The wolves hunted elk and moose that ate small trees along riverbanks.
灰狼在河岸边捕猎以小树为食的麋鹿和驼鹿。
With fewer elk and moose, the trees started growing again and the riverbanks did not erode as quickly.
随着麋鹿和驼鹿的数量减少，树木又开始生长，河岸被侵蚀的速度也没有那么快了。
Something similar happened when the otters returned.
当海獭回来时，类似的事情也发生了。
Johan Eklof is a Swedish marine biologist from Stockholm University who reviewed the study.
约翰·埃克洛夫是斯德哥尔摩大学的瑞典海洋生物学家，他审查了这项研究。
Other studies, he noted, depended only on observation.
他指出，其他研究仅仅依靠观察。
But this new study leaves no doubt that the otters limit erosion.
但这项新研究毫无疑问地表明，海獭限制了侵蚀。
Other studies show that otters can be helpful for plants.
其他研究表明，海獭对植物有帮助。
One study said the otters eat sea creatures called urchins that feed on kelp.
一项研究表明，海獭吃以海藻为食的海胆。
The return of the otters permitted the kelp to grow again.
海獭的回归使海藻得以再次生长。
Brian Silliman is a coastal ecologist from Duke University in North Carolina.
布莱恩·西里曼是北卡罗来纳州杜克大学的海岸生态学家。
He co-wrote the new study.
他是这篇新研究报告的合著者。
He described the otters as "amazing finders and eaters."
他形容海獭是“令人惊叹的发现者和食者”。
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
