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The recovery of top predators is thought to have cascading effects on vegetated ecosystems and their geomorphology1,2, but the evidence for this remains correlational and intensely debated3,4. Here we combine observational and experimental data to reveal that recolonization of sea otters in a US estuary generates a trophic cascade that facilitates coastal wetland plant biomass and suppresses the erosion of marsh edges—a process that otherwise leads to the severe loss of habitats and ecosystem services5,6. Monitoring of the Elkhorn Slough estuary over several decades suggested top-down control in the system, because the erosion of salt marsh edges has generally slowed with increasing sea otter abundance, despite the consistently increasing physical stress in the system (that is, nutrient loading, sea-level rise and tidal scour7–9). Predator-exclusion experiments in five marsh creeks revealed that sea otters suppress the abundance of burrowing crabs, a top-d

United statesElkhorn sloughSea otter enhydraSea otterRr core teamYellowstone national parkWildlife serviceEnvironmental systems research instituteElkhorn slough foundationHuman impactsSalt marshesGlobal perspectiveCalifornia pressNew englandCoastal zonesEnvironmental changes