Giant Kelp

Giant kelp forests are the beneficiaries of sea otter keystone predation—the ecosystem that flourishes when otters control urchins. Kelp forests support hundreds of species, sequester carbon, and protect coastlines from wave erosion. They exist in a bistable state: with otters, lush kelp forests; without otters, barren urchin deserts. The same physical environment supports radically different ecosystems depending on which stable state it occupies.

Kelp forests demonstrate how keystones create the conditions for broader ecosystem value. The kelp doesn't need the otter directly; it needs the otter to suppress urchins. This indirect relationship means kelp forest health tracks otter population health with a lag—otter declines eventually manifest as kelp declines, but not immediately.

The business parallel is ecosystems that depend on unseen regulators. Kelp forests are like markets that depend on antitrust enforcement, quality standards, or platform governance—they flourish when something controls extractive participants, collapse when that control fails. The kelp analogy shows that ecosystem health indicators may lag regulator effectiveness. Markets look healthy while enforcement deteriorates; kelp forests look healthy while otter populations decline. By the time degradation becomes visible, the underlying cause has often progressed far.