School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia.
Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, Australia.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022 Aug 15;377(1857):20210393. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0393. Epub 2022 Jun 27.
Urbanization is leading to biodiversity loss through habitat homogenization. The smooth, featureless surfaces of many marine urban structures support ecological communities, often of lower biodiversity, distinct from the complex natural habitats they replace. Eco-engineering (design for ecological co-benefits) seeks to enhance biodiversity and ecological functions on urban structures. We assessed the benefits to biodiversity of retrofitting four types of complex habitat panels to an intertidal seawall at patch (versus flat control panels) and site (versus unmodified control seawalls and reference rocky shores) scales. Two years after installation, patch-scale effects of complex panels on biodiversity ranged from neutral to positive, depending on the protective features they provided, though all but one design (honeycomb) supported unique species. Water-retaining features (rockpools) and crevices, which provided moisture retention and cooling, increased biodiversity and supported algae and invertebrates otherwise absent. At the site scale, biodiversity benefits ranged from neutral at the high- and mid-intertidal to positive at the low-intertidal elevation. The results highlight the importance of matching eco-engineering interventions to the niche of target species, and environmental conditions. While species richness was greatest on rockpool and crevice panels, the unique species supported by other panel designs highlights that to maximize biodiversity, habitat heterogeneity is essential. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological complexity and the biosphere: the next 30 years'.
城市化通过生境均一化导致生物多样性丧失。许多海洋城市结构的平滑、无特征表面支持生态群落，这些群落的生物多样性往往较低，与它们所取代的复杂自然栖息地不同。生态工程（为生态共同效益而设计）旨在增强城市结构上的生物多样性和生态功能。我们评估了将四种复杂栖息地嵌板 retrofit（翻新）到潮间带防波堤上，对生物多样性的影响在斑块（与平坦对照嵌板相比）和地点（与未修改的对照防波堤和参考岩石海岸相比）尺度上。安装两年后，复杂嵌板对生物多样性的斑块尺度效应因它们提供的保护特征而从中性到阳性不等，尽管除了一种设计（蜂窝）外，所有设计都支持独特的物种。保持水分的特征（岩石池）和裂缝，提供水分保持和冷却，增加了生物多样性，并支持藻类和无脊椎动物，否则它们不存在。在地点尺度上，生物多样性效益从高和中潮带的中性到低潮带的阳性不等。结果强调了将生态工程干预措施与目标物种的生态位和环境条件相匹配的重要性。虽然物种丰富度在岩石池和裂缝嵌板上最大，但其他嵌板设计支持的独特物种突出表明，为了最大限度地提高生物多样性，生境异质性是必不可少的。本文是主题问题“生态复杂性与生物圈：未来 30 年”的一部分。
