Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Ecol Appl. 2023 Jul;33(5):e2865. doi: 10.1002/eap.2865. Epub 2023 May 9.
Restoration aims to reverse the global declines of foundation species, but it is unclear how project attributes, the physical setting, and antecedent conditions affect restoration success. In coastal seas worldwide, oyster reef restoration is increasing to counter historical habitat destruction and associated declines in fisheries production and biodiversity. Yet, restoration outcomes are highly variable and the factors that enhance oyster production and nekton abundance and diversity on restored reefs are unresolved. To quantify the drivers of oyster restoration success, we used meta-analysis to synthesize data from 158 restored reefs paired with unstructured habitats along the United States Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The average recovery of oyster production was 65% greater in subtidal (vs. intertidal) zones, 173% greater in polyhaline (vs. mesohaline) environments and increased with tidal range, demonstrating that physical conditions can strongly influence the restoration success of foundation species. Additionally, restoration increased the relative abundance and richness of nektonic fishes and invertebrates over time as reefs aged (at least 8 years post-construction). Thus, the restoration benefits for provisioning habitat and enhancing biodiversity accrue over time, highlighting that restoration projects need multiple years to maximize ecosystem functions. Furthermore, long-term monitoring of restored and control sites is needed to assess restoration outcomes and associated drivers. Last, our work reveals data constraints for several potential drivers of restoration outcomes, including reef construction material, reef dimensions, harvest pressure and disease prevalence. More experimental and observational studies are needed to target these factors and measure them with consistent methods across studies. Our findings indicate that the assisted recovery of foundation species yields several enhancements to ecosystem services, but such benefits are mediated by time and environmental conditions.
恢复的目的是扭转基础物种的全球衰退，但目前尚不清楚项目属性、物理环境和前期条件如何影响恢复的成功。在世界范围内的沿海海域，牡蛎礁的恢复正在增加，以应对历史上的栖息地破坏以及渔业产量和生物多样性的相关下降。然而，恢复的结果高度可变，增强牡蛎生产和游泳动物数量和多样性的因素在恢复的珊瑚礁上仍未得到解决。为了量化牡蛎恢复成功的驱动因素，我们使用元分析综合了美国墨西哥湾和大西洋沿岸 158 个恢复的珊瑚礁与非结构化栖息地的数据。与潮间带相比，潮下带的牡蛎产量恢复平均高出 65%，与中盐度环境相比，多盐度环境下的牡蛎产量恢复高出 173%，并且潮汐范围越大，恢复成功率越高，这表明物理条件可以强烈影响基础物种的恢复成功。此外，随着时间的推移（至少在建造后 8 年），恢复会增加游泳动物鱼类和无脊椎动物的相对丰度和丰富度。因此，随着时间的推移，恢复为提供生境和增强生物多样性带来了好处，这突出表明恢复项目需要多年时间才能最大限度地发挥生态系统功能。此外，需要对恢复和对照地点进行长期监测，以评估恢复结果和相关驱动因素。最后，我们的工作揭示了恢复结果的几个潜在驱动因素的数据限制，包括珊瑚礁建筑材料、珊瑚礁尺寸、收获压力和疾病流行率。需要进行更多的实验和观测研究，以针对这些因素，并使用一致的方法在研究中进行测量。我们的研究结果表明，基础物种的辅助恢复为生态系统服务带来了多项增强，但这些好处受到时间和环境条件的调节。
