How does dune morphology shape coastal EC habitats occurrence? A remote sensing approach using airborne LiDAR on the Mediterranean coast

Bazzichetto, Manuele; Malavasi, Marco; Acosta, Alicia Teresa Rosario; Carranza, María Laura

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.07.044

Cited by 51 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…Young et al (2011) first presented elevation above sea level and distance to shoreline as important functional proxies for abiotic factors affecting plant communities including water availability, blowing sand, and sea spray. These findings were later corroborated by studies conducted on the Mediterranean coast (Bazzichetto et al 2016). Burdick and Mendelssohn (1987) also used elevation to define dune, swale, and marsh habitats on a Gulf Coast barrier island.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 63%

Topography and disturbance influence trait‐based composition and productivity of adjacent habitats in a coastal system

Brown

Zinnert

2020

Ecosphere

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Citation: Brown, J. K., and J. C., Zinnert. 2020. Topography and disturbance influence trait-based composition and productivity of adjacent habitats in a coastal system. Ecosphere 11(5):Abstract. Coastal systems experience frequent disturbance and multiple environmental stressors over short spatial and temporal scales. Investigating functional traits in coastal systems has the potential to inform how variation in disturbance frequency and environmental variables influence differences in trait-based community composition and ecosystem function. Our goals were to (1) quantify trait-based communities on two barrier islands divergent in topography and long-term disturbance response and (2) determine relationships between community trait-based composition and ecosystem productivity. We hypothesized that locations documented with high disturbance would have habitats with similar environmental conditions and trait-based communities, with the opposite relationship in low-disturbance locations. Furthermore, we expected higher productivity and lower site-to-site variation with low disturbance. Functional traits, biomass, and environmental metrics (soil salinity, elevation, and distance to shoreline) were collected and analyzed for two habitat types (dune and swale) on two Virginia barrier islands. Our results show that trait-based community composition differed among habitat types and was related to disturbance. Habitats exhibited more similarity on the high-disturbance island in both trait-based composition and environmental variables. Conversely, the low-disturbance island habitats were more dissimilar. We found the habitat with the lowest disturbance had the highest ecosystem productivity and had trait-based communities indicative of highly competitive environments, while the high-disturbance trait-based communities were influenced by traits that indicate rapid recovery and growth. Site-to-site variation was similar in all dune habitats but differed among inter-island swale habitats that varied in disturbance. These results highlight the importance of incorporating trait-based analyses when approaching questions about community structure and ecosystem productivity in disturbance-mediated habitats, such as coastal systems.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 63%

Topography and disturbance influence trait‐based composition and productivity of adjacent habitats in a coastal system

Brown

Zinnert

2020

Ecosphere

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“…Carpobrotus can grow and establish in embankments, garden margins and disturbed sites under a wide range of environmental conditions. Previous studies report a preferential distribution of Carpobrotus for coastal habitats, both on rocky and sandy coasts and, in the latter, particularly in the central part of the coastal dune vegetation zonation Bazzichetto et al 2016; Figure 4). This is probably due to the absence of frost and the tolerance of this genus to salinity (Weber and D'Antonio 1999).…”

Section: Invaded Rangementioning

confidence: 82%

Monographs of invasive plants in Europe:Carpobrotus

et al. 2018

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This report synthesizes all aspects of the taxonomy, distribution, history of introduction and spread, ecological constrains (including preferred climate, substratum and habitats), responses to biotic and abiotic factors, biology (including phenology, vegetative and reproductive biology), economic importance and human uses, ecological impacts, legislation and management of Carpobrotus N.E.Br. (Aizoaceae), a prominent invasive plant in Europe.Carpobrotus species are mat-forming trailing succulent perennial herbs native from South Africa, introduced in Europe for ornamental and soil stabilization purposes since the beginning of the seventeenth century, now widely naturalized on coastal habitats of southern and western Europe. C. acinaciformis and C. edulis are the main species recognized outside South Africa, together with their hybrids and potential hybrid swarms. Identification conflicts both in the native and invaded areas raise doubts on the taxonomy of these taxa, but hybridization processes may boost adaptive changes in the invaded range.The release of Carpobrotus in natural environments and protected areas is prohibited in several European countries, but this taxon is not included in the list of invasive species of Union concern. Carpobrotus is a pioneer of disturbed sites and coastal areas including cliffs and sand dune systems, due to its tolerance to stress factors such as salinity, drought and excess of light. Carpobrotus invasion ultimately affects patterns of native species diversity. Moreover, it has been recognized as a major driver of soil conditions shifts and soil geochemical processes disruptions, representing a serious threat for coastal habitats.Management plans for Carpobrotus must consider its high plasticity for morphological and ecophysiological traits, which may probably explain its tolerance to a wide range of ecological conditions. Its flexible mating systems, which represent an optimal strategy to facilitate local adaptation and habitat colonization, include ability to produce apomictic seeds, selfand cross-pollination, and an intense vegetative clonality. In addition, Carpobrotus produces a large seed bank with a moderate short-term persistence, and fruits are effectively dispersed by mammals. The most efficient control methods are physical removal and herbicide application on leaves, whereas integration of biological control with other conventional management methods are likely to be most effective. A long-term monitoring of control actions and restoration of soil conditions are needed to prevent recovering from clonal parts, seed bank or mammal faeces as well as potential new invasions by other opportunistic species. Taxonomy Names and classificationScientific name: Carpobrotus edulis (L.) N. E.Br., 1926 Basyonym: Mesembryanthemum edule L., 1759

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“…(EU code: 2250), Wooded dunes with Pinus pinea and/or Pinus pinaster (EU code: 2270) ( Figure 1). These habitats are highly related with variations in substrate coherence (Santoro et al, 2011), wind action and environmental stress along the sea-inland gradient (Acosta et al, 2003;Frederiksen et al, 2006;Bazzichetto et al, 2016;Šilc et al, 2018, Figure 1). Two of them (fixed dunes and wooded dunes) are of priority conservation interest at European level and three of them (embryo dunes, mobile dunes and fixed dunes) are currently in poor conservation status in Italy (La Posta et al, 2008) and in Europe (European Commission, 2008), requiring specific conservation actions (Janssen et al, 2016).…”

Section: Coastal Dune Habitat Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The integrity of dune zonation is important to ensure dune ecosystem functioning (e.g. Drius et al, 2013) and in particular the presence of the embryonic, mobile and fore dunes plays an important role in protecting the inner coastal sectors (Acosta et al, 2003;Bazzichetto et al, 2016;Bini et al, 2002).…”

Section: Erosion Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%