Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success

Ralph J M Temmink,Christoffer Boström,Gregory S Fivash,Wouter Lengkeek,Siti Maryam Yaakub,Karin Didderen,Richard K F Unsworth,Laura L Govers,Sabine Engel ,Christine Angelini,Jeffrey Gaeckle ,Eduardo Infantes,M.m Van Katwijk ,Silvija Kipson,Leon P M Lamers,Marjolijn J A Christianen,Nicole Esteban,Brian R Silliman,Karine Gagnon,Brigitta I Van Tussenbroek,Tjeerd J Bouma,Tjisse Van Der Heide

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17438-4

Abstract

Restoration is becoming a vital tool to counteract coastal ecosystem degradation. Modifying transplant designs of habitat-forming organisms from dispersed to clumped can amplify coastal restoration yields as it generates self-facilitation from emergent traits, i.e. traits not expressed by individuals or small clones, but that emerge in clumped individuals or large clones. Here, we advance restoration science by mimicking key emergent traits that locally suppress physical stress using biodegradable establishment structures. Experiments across (sub)tropical and temperate seagrass and salt marsh systems demonstrate greatly enhanced yields when individuals are transplanted within structures mimicking emergent traits that suppress waves or sediment mobility. Specifically, belowground mimics of dense root mats most facilitate seagrasses via sediment stabilization, while mimics of aboveground plant structures most facilitate marsh grasses by reducing stem movement. Mimicking key emergent traits may allow upscaling of restoration in many ecosystems that depend on self-facilitation for persistence, by constraining biological material requirements and implementation costs.

Highlights

Restoration is becoming a vital tool to counteract coastal ecosystem degradation
The decline and degradation of coastal ecosystems threatens biodiversity and the services that humans derive from these systems, such as carbon sequestration, coastal protection, pollution filtration, and the provisioning of food and raw materials[1,2]
Coastal restoration requires innovation to increase its effectiveness, as current efforts to rebuild coastal wetlands and reefs are prone to failure and are often too expensive to be included as central features in largescale conservation planning[15]

Summary

Introduction

Restoration is becoming a vital tool to counteract coastal ecosystem degradation. Modifying transplant designs of habitat-forming organisms from dispersed to clumped can amplify coastal restoration yields as it generates self-facilitation from emergent traits, i.e. traits not expressed by individuals or small clones, but that emerge in clumped individuals or large clones. Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Department Coastal Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University, 1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands. Whereas earlier work showed that increasing planting density can increase restoration success[17,18], Silliman et al.[16] demonstrated that yields can be doubled by planting in clumps rather than applying commonly used plantation-style dispersed designs, while keeping overall density unchanged This simple clumping technique has the potential to fundamentally change coastal restoration[12,19,20], facilitation-harnessing approaches could become effective if the organism traits generating self-facilitation can be mimicked and, produced and distributed at large scales

Methods

Results

Conclusion