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Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration

Richard Unsworth Orcid Logo, Benjamin L. H. Jones, Lucy Coals, Evie Furness, Isabella Inman, Sam Rees, Ally Evans

Restoration Ecology

Swansea University Authors: Richard Unsworth Orcid Logo, Evie Furness, Sam Rees, Ally Evans

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/rec.14101

Abstract

Overcoming ecological feedbacks is a major limiting factor reducing the success of many seagrass restoration projects. Negative feedbacks occur when biotic or abiotic conditions of a site are changed sufficiently after the loss of seagrass to prevent its recovery, even after the original stressors a...

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Published in: Restoration Ecology
ISSN: 1061-2971 1526-100X
Published: Wiley 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65859
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Negative feedbacks occur when biotic or abiotic conditions of a site are changed sufficiently after the loss of seagrass to prevent its recovery, even after the original stressors are remediated. While negative feedbacks in seagrass restoration are common, there remain limited studies of ways to reduce them and kick-start the necessary positive feedbacks to promote recovery. We used field and laboratory experiments to investigate key ecological feedbacks in seagrass (Zostera marina) restoration by testing the role of hessian bags and seed burial in reducing seed predation and promoting plant development. We used a double-hurdle model approach to predict “seagrass emergence success” and “seagrass growth success” across planted field plots. We found that planting seeds in hessian bags and burying them in the sediment improved the likelihood of seeds developing into mature plants. We recorded an average 13-fold increase in shoot density for seeds planted in buried bags relative to raked furrows. This could be the combined result of reduced predation as well as bags mimicking emergent traits of mature seagrass to withstand physical impacts. We supplement these findings with laboratory evidence that hessian bags provide protection from predation by green shore crabs. Overall, we found a low and variable success rate for seed-based restoration and indicate other feedbacks in the system beyond those we controlled. 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spelling v2 65859 2024-03-18 Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f 0000-0003-0036-9724 Richard Unsworth Richard Unsworth true false e8072ce70b37dd96f11b96b9b6630bd3 Evie Furness Evie Furness true false 25809349ff4e207ac37ac3846a87b51c Sam Rees Sam Rees true false 1d26e6210fdb060b913c5b93b0af663b Ally Evans Ally Evans true false 2024-03-18 SBI Overcoming ecological feedbacks is a major limiting factor reducing the success of many seagrass restoration projects. Negative feedbacks occur when biotic or abiotic conditions of a site are changed sufficiently after the loss of seagrass to prevent its recovery, even after the original stressors are remediated. While negative feedbacks in seagrass restoration are common, there remain limited studies of ways to reduce them and kick-start the necessary positive feedbacks to promote recovery. We used field and laboratory experiments to investigate key ecological feedbacks in seagrass (Zostera marina) restoration by testing the role of hessian bags and seed burial in reducing seed predation and promoting plant development. We used a double-hurdle model approach to predict “seagrass emergence success” and “seagrass growth success” across planted field plots. We found that planting seeds in hessian bags and burying them in the sediment improved the likelihood of seeds developing into mature plants. We recorded an average 13-fold increase in shoot density for seeds planted in buried bags relative to raked furrows. This could be the combined result of reduced predation as well as bags mimicking emergent traits of mature seagrass to withstand physical impacts. We supplement these findings with laboratory evidence that hessian bags provide protection from predation by green shore crabs. Overall, we found a low and variable success rate for seed-based restoration and indicate other feedbacks in the system beyond those we controlled. However, we show that small methodological changes can help overcome some key feedbacks and improve restoration success. Journal Article Restoration Ecology 0 Wiley 1061-2971 1526-100X crabs, ecological feedbacks, eelgrass, emergent traits, hessian bags, hurdle model, seed predation, Zostera 24 1 2024 2024-01-24 10.1111/rec.14101 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Natural Environment Research Council - NE/V016385/1; World Wildlife Fund 2024-04-17T16:52:14.5337525 2024-03-18T16:19:33.1609361 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Richard Unsworth 0000-0003-0036-9724 1 Benjamin L. H. Jones 2 Lucy Coals 3 Evie Furness 4 Isabella Inman 5 Sam Rees 6 Ally Evans 7 65859__29740__10546f9efa7149918f95c098d5e85ecf.pdf 65859_VoR.pdf 2024-03-18T16:24:28.0906016 Output 5862257 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2024 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
spellingShingle Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
Richard Unsworth
Evie Furness
Sam Rees
Ally Evans
title_short Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
title_full Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
title_fullStr Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
title_full_unstemmed Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
title_sort Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration
author_id_str_mv b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f
e8072ce70b37dd96f11b96b9b6630bd3
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author_id_fullname_str_mv b0f33acd13a3ab541cf2aaea27f4fc2f_***_Richard Unsworth
e8072ce70b37dd96f11b96b9b6630bd3_***_Evie Furness
25809349ff4e207ac37ac3846a87b51c_***_Sam Rees
1d26e6210fdb060b913c5b93b0af663b_***_Ally Evans
author Richard Unsworth
Evie Furness
Sam Rees
Ally Evans
author2 Richard Unsworth
Benjamin L. H. Jones
Lucy Coals
Evie Furness
Isabella Inman
Sam Rees
Ally Evans
format Journal article
container_title Restoration Ecology
container_volume 0
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 1061-2971
1526-100X
doi_str_mv 10.1111/rec.14101
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Overcoming ecological feedbacks is a major limiting factor reducing the success of many seagrass restoration projects. Negative feedbacks occur when biotic or abiotic conditions of a site are changed sufficiently after the loss of seagrass to prevent its recovery, even after the original stressors are remediated. While negative feedbacks in seagrass restoration are common, there remain limited studies of ways to reduce them and kick-start the necessary positive feedbacks to promote recovery. We used field and laboratory experiments to investigate key ecological feedbacks in seagrass (Zostera marina) restoration by testing the role of hessian bags and seed burial in reducing seed predation and promoting plant development. We used a double-hurdle model approach to predict “seagrass emergence success” and “seagrass growth success” across planted field plots. We found that planting seeds in hessian bags and burying them in the sediment improved the likelihood of seeds developing into mature plants. We recorded an average 13-fold increase in shoot density for seeds planted in buried bags relative to raked furrows. This could be the combined result of reduced predation as well as bags mimicking emergent traits of mature seagrass to withstand physical impacts. We supplement these findings with laboratory evidence that hessian bags provide protection from predation by green shore crabs. Overall, we found a low and variable success rate for seed-based restoration and indicate other feedbacks in the system beyond those we controlled. However, we show that small methodological changes can help overcome some key feedbacks and improve restoration success.
published_date 2024-01-24T16:52:11Z
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