Species Richness Accelerates Marine Ecosystem Restoration in the Coral Triangle

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2017 Oct 29

PMID 29078320

Citations 9

Authors

Susan L Williams

Rohani Ambo-Rappe

Christine Sur

Jessica M Abbott

Steven R Limbong

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ecosystem restoration aims to restore biodiversity and valuable functions that have been degraded or lost. The Coral Triangle is a hotspot for marine biodiversity held in its coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests, all of which are in global decline. These coastal ecosystems support valuable fisheries and endangered species, protect shorelines, and are significant carbon stores, functions that have been degraded by coastal development, destructive fishing practices, and climate change. Ecosystem restoration is required to mitigate these damages and losses, but its practice is in its infancy in the region. Here we demonstrate that species diversity can set the trajectory of restoration. In a seagrass restoration experiment in the heart of the Coral Triangle (Sulawesi, Indonesia), plant survival and coverage increased with the number of species transplanted. Our results highlight the positive role biodiversity can play in ecosystem restoration and call for revision of the common restoration practice of establishing a single target species, particularly in regions having high biodiversity. Coastal ecosystems affect human well-being in many important ways, and restoration will become ever more important as conservation efforts cannot keep up with their loss.

Citing Articles

Potential of seagrass habitat restorations as nature-based solutions: Practical and scientific implications in Indonesia.

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Safeguarding Imperiled Biodiversity and Evolutionary Processes in the Wallacea Center of Endemism.

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Nested interactions between chemosynthetic lucinid bivalves and seagrass promote ecosystem functioning in contaminated sediments.

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Biodiversity has a positive but saturating effect on imperiled coral reefs.

Clements C, Hay M Sci Adv. 2021; 7(42):eabi8592.

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Optimizing coastal restoration with the stress gradient hypothesis.

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