Mangrove Biodiversity and Conservation: Setting Key Functional Groups and Risks of Climate-Induced Functional Disruption

Abstract

Climate change (CC) represents an increasing threat to mangroves worldwide and can amplify impacts caused by local anthropogenic activities. The direct effects of CC on mangrove forests have been extensively discussed, but indirect impacts such as the alteration of ecological processes driven by specific functional groups of the biota are poorly investigated. Ecological roles of key functional groups (FGs) in mangroves from the Atlantic–Caribbean–East Pacific (ACEP) and Indo-West Pacific (IWP) regions are reviewed, and impacts from CC mediated by these FGs are explored. Disruption by CC of ecological processes, driven by key FGs, can reinforce direct effects and amplify the loss of ecological functionality and further degradation of mangrove forests. Biogeochemistry mediator microbiotas of the soil, bioturbators, especially semiterrestrial crabs (Ocypodoids and Grapsoids) and herbivores (crustaceans and Insects), would be the most affected FG in both regions. Effects of climate change can vary regionally in the function of the combination of direct and indirect drivers, further eroding biodiversity and mangrove resilience, and impairing the predictability of ecosystem behaviour. This means that public policies to manage and conserve mangroves, as well as rehabilitation/restoration programs, should take into consideration the pressures of CC in specific regions and the response of key FGs to these pressures.