Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, 430 Nahant Road, Nahant, Massachusetts, 01908, USA.
Changing Oceans Group, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK.
Ecol Appl. 2021 Jul;31(5):e02340. doi: 10.1002/eap.2340. Epub 2021 May 4.
The rapid loss of coastal and estuarine biogenic habitats has reduced the delivery of valuable ecosystem services, resulting in calls for increased habitat restoration. Yet, a lack of information on how key habitat characteristics (e.g., area, vertical relief, age) influence the ability of restored habitats to deliver these ecosystem services hinders efforts to maximize the return on restoration investments. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the influence of reef type (natural or restored), taxa, and restored reef size, vertical relief, age, and tidal zone on the presence and magnitude of recruitment enhancement for nekton (i.e., fish and swimming crabs). Both intertidal and subtidal reefs, as well as restored and natural reefs, enhanced nekton recruitment, though there was variation among taxonomic groups with reef types. Recruitment enhancement was more common across taxa on restored (six families) than on natural (one family) reefs. Resident nekton families were more consistently enhanced than transient families. Nekton enhancement varied with a number of restored reef characteristics. Recruitment enhancement increased with greater reef size across taxa, decreased with higher vertical relief for two families, showed maximum recruitment around a single intertidal reef age for one family, and showed minimum recruitment around a single subtidal reef age for three families. Understanding variation across species in response to key design elements will improve restoration success and enhance return on investment. Moving forward, we recommend studies that vary reef habitat characteristics independently and in combination to identify how variation in these characteristics interact to influence nekton recruitment enhancement by oyster reefs.
沿海和河口生物成因栖息地的迅速丧失减少了有价值的生态系统服务的供应，因此人们呼吁加大栖息地恢复力度。然而，由于缺乏关于关键栖息地特征（例如，面积、垂直落差、年龄）如何影响恢复栖息地提供这些生态系统服务的能力的信息，这阻碍了努力实现恢复投资回报最大化。我们进行了一项荟萃分析，以评估珊瑚礁类型（自然或恢复）、分类群以及恢复珊瑚礁的大小、垂直落差、年龄和潮汐区对游泳动物（即鱼类和游泳蟹）的补充能力的存在和程度的影响。潮间带和亚潮带珊瑚礁以及恢复和自然珊瑚礁都增强了游泳动物的补充能力，尽管不同的珊瑚礁类型之间存在分类群的差异。在恢复的珊瑚礁（六个科）上比在自然的珊瑚礁（一个科）上，补充能力在分类群中更为常见。居留游泳动物科比瞬态游泳动物科更经常得到增强。游泳动物的增强与许多恢复珊瑚礁的特征有关。在整个分类群中，补充能力随着珊瑚礁大小的增加而增加，对于两个科，随着垂直落差的增加而减少，对于一个科，在单一潮间带珊瑚礁年龄周围达到最大补充能力，对于三个科，在单一亚潮带珊瑚礁年龄周围达到最小补充能力。了解物种对关键设计要素的反应差异将提高恢复成功率并增强投资回报。展望未来，我们建议进行研究，使珊瑚礁栖息地特征独立和组合变化，以确定这些特征的变化如何相互作用，影响牡蛎礁对游泳动物补充的影响。
