Species richness accelerates marine ecosystem restoration in the Coral Triangle

Williams, Susan L.; Ambo‐Rappe, Rohani; Sur, Christine; Abbott, Jessica M.; Limbong, Steven R.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1707962114

Cited by 50 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(145 reference statements)

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“…However, some studies suggest that the co-existence of seagrass species is beneficial, especially in areas of frequent disturbance where interspecies diversity increases ecosystem resilience (Williams, 1990). Williams et al (2017) found that increased species richness of seagrasses also increased transplant success. They hypothesized that the mechanism underlaying this effect was niche partitioning of resources and a diversity of growth patterns.…”

Section: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration

et al. 2020

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Seagrasses provide multiple ecosystem services including nursery habitat, improved water quality, coastal protection, and carbon sequestration. However, seagrasses are in crisis as global coverage is declining at an accelerating rate. With increased focus on ecological restoration as a conservation strategy, methods that enhance restoration success need to be explored. Decades of work in coastal plant ecosystems, including seagrasses, has shown that positive species relationships and feedbacks are critical for ecosystem stability, expansion, and recovery from disturbance. We reviewed the restoration literature on seagrasses and found few studies have tested for the beneficial effects of including positive species interactions in seagrass restoration designs. Here we review the full suite of positive species interactions that have been documented in seagrass ecosystems, where they occur, and how they might be integrated into seagrass restoration. The few studies in marine plant communities that have explicitly incorporated positive species interactions and feedbacks have found an increase in plant growth with little additional resource investment. As oceans continue to change and stressors become more prevalent, harnessing positive interactions between species through innovative approaches will likely become key to successful seagrass restoration.

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Section: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration

et al. 2020

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“…However, such ecosystems are under threat due to anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., boating, aquaculture, pollution and coastal reclamations) and climate change, which are causing seagrass habitat loss and fragmentation and even local or regional extinctions (Waycott et al, ; Williams et al, ). Therefore, seagrass conservation and restoration have become growing concerns globally in ecology (van Katwijk et al, ; Williams, Ambo‐Rappe, Sur, Abbotte, & Limbong, ). Seagrass species exhibit both clonal and sexual reproduction (Den Hartog, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine‐scale genetic structure and flowering output of the seagrass Enhalus acoroides undergoing disturbance

Serrão

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Seagrass are under great stress in the tropical coast of Asia, where Enhalus acoroides is frequently the dominant species with a large food web. Here, we investigate the question of the fine‐scale genetic structure of this ecologically important foundation species, subject to severe anthropogenic disturbance in China. The genetic structure will illuminate potential mechanisms for population dynamics and sustainability, which are critical for preservation of biodiversity and for decision‐making in management and restoration. We evaluated the fine‐scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) and flowering output of E. acoroides , and indirectly estimated the relative importance of sexual versus asexual reproduction for population persistence using spatial autocorrelation analysis. Results reveal high clonal diversity for this species, as predicted from its high sexual reproduction output. The stronger Sp statistic at the ramet‐level compared with genet‐level indicates that clonality increases the SGS pattern for E. acoroides . Significant SGS at the genet‐level may be explained by the aggregated dispersal of seed/pollen cohorts. The estimated gene dispersal variance suggests that dispersal mediated by sexual reproduction is more important than clonal growth in this study area. The ongoing anthropogenic disturbance will negatively affect the mating pattern and the SGS patterns in the future due to massive death of shoots, and less frequency of sexual reproduction.

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“…Over the past three decades, seagrass restoration has been implemented using a variety of techniques. Transplantation has been, and still is, the main technique used, where vegetative stocks (pieces of mature seagrass) are taken from a donor site and planted at the restoration site (Phillips 1980;Fonseca et al 1998;Calumpong and Fonseca 2001;Bourque and Fourqurean 2014;Williams et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short Communication: Restoration of seagrass Enhalus acoroides using a combination of generative and vegetative techniques

Ambo‐Rappe¹,

Nafie²,

Syafiuddin³

et al. 2019

Biodiversitas

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Abstract. Ambo-Rappe R, La Nafie YA, Syafiuddin, Limbong SR, Asriani N, Handayani NT, Lisdayanti E. 2019. Short Communication: Restoration of seagrass Enhalus acoroides using a combination of generative and vegetative techniques. Biodiversitas 20: 3358-3363. Seagrass areas have been declining in extent worldwide, with associated loss in seagrass ecosystem functions and services. Seagrass restoration is important to mitigate, halt and reverse such declines and their consequences. Generative propagation has benefits in terms of genetic biodiversity, however, survival of seagrass seedlings has often been poor especially in high energy environments. Terrestrial restoration often uses shade trees to protect vulnerable seedlings. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a similar approach in the marine environment, using adult plants to protect seedlings of the tropical seagrass Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle. Enhalus seeds taken from a donor bed were germinated and grown into seedlings, then planted in a location with high hydrodynamic exposure at three different densities (high, medium, and low). Adult Enhalus transplants were co-planted to provide three levels of protection: fifty (high), ten (medium), and none (no protection). Results showed that high-density seedling co-planting with high protection from adult transplants had significantly (p< 0.05) higher six-month survival rate compared to the other treatments. Our results indicate that, even in high energy environments, co-planting seedlings with adult transplants may combine the advantages of generative and vegetative propagation methods, promoting greater short-term effectiveness in terms of seedlings survival and growth in the restored seagrass meadows.

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Species richness accelerates marine ecosystem restoration in the Coral Triangle

Cited by 50 publications

References 83 publications

Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration

Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration

Fine‐scale genetic structure and flowering output of the seagrass Enhalus acoroides undergoing disturbance

Short Communication: Restoration of seagrass Enhalus acoroides using a combination of generative and vegetative techniques

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