Spatial variation in the structure of mangrove forests with respect to seawalls

Heatherington, Craig; Bishop, Melanie J.

doi:10.1071/mf12119

Cited by 26 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…(Currin et al 2008;Bilkovic and Mitchell 2013). Reductions in productivity in salt marsh (Freiss et al 2008) and mangrove (Heatherington and Bishop 2012) ecosystems were also associated with seawalls (Box 1b). However, Wong et al (2011) observed positive responses to armoring in low-energy habitats, reporting that the presence of both sills (Box 1a) and bulkheads (Box 1b) led to greater secondary production in salt marshes in North Carolina than in habitats without the added structure.…”

Section: E5: Productivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments

Dugan

Emery

Alber

et al. 2017

Estuaries and Coasts

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Despite its widespread use, the ecological effects of shoreline armoring are poorly synthesized and difficult to generalize across soft sediment environments and structure types. We developed a conceptual model that scales predicted ecological effects of shore-parallel armoring based on two axes: engineering purpose of structure (reduce/slow velocities or prevent/ stop flow of waves and currents) and hydrodynamic energy (e.g., tides, currents, waves) of soft sediment environments. We predicted greater ecological impacts for structures intended to stop as opposed to slow water flow and with increasing hydrodynamic energy of the environment. We evaluated our predictions with a literature review of effects of shoreline armoring for six possible ecological responses (habitat distribution, species assemblages, trophic structure, nutrient cycling, productivity, and connectivity). The majority of studies were in low-energy environments (51 of 88), and a preponderance addressed changes in two ecological responses associated with armoring: habitat distribution and species assemblages. Across the 207 armoring effects studied, 71% were significantly negative, 22% were significantly positive, and 7% reported no significant difference. Ecological responses varied with engineering purpose of structures, with a higher frequency of negative responses for structures designed to stop water flow within a given hydrodynamic energy level. Comparisons across the hydrodynamic energy axis were less clear-cut, but negative responses prevailed (>78%) in high-energy environments. These results suggest that generalizations of ecological responses to armoring across a range of environmental contexts are possible and that the proposed conceptual model is useful for generating predictions of the direction and relative ecological impacts of shoreline armoring in soft sediment ecosystems.

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Section: E5: Productivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments

Dugan

Emery

Alber

et al. 2017

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…In addition, seawalls destroy sea-to-land connectivity and impact mangrove forests by disrupting hydrodynamic patterns, organism movements, nutrient flows and modifying sediment balance [1,[43][44][45]. Mangrove forests constrained on their landward side by a seawall often contain less leaf litter and have fewer saplings than forests without seawalls [70]. Moreover, aquaculture (shrimp or fish farming) can reduce mangrove growth rates, increase mangrove mortality rates, and lead to ecological degradation through excess pond waste materials in sediments discharged from nearby aquaculture ponds [67,71].…”

Section: Root Cause Of Mangrove Degradation-seawall Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Strict Protection Stop the Decline of Mangrove Ecosystems in China? From Rapid Destruction to Rampant Degradation

Wang

Lee

et al. 2020

Forests

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China has lost about 50% of its mangrove forests from 1950 to 2001. Since 2001, mangrove forest area has increased by 1.8% per year due to strict protection of the remaining mangrove forests and large-scale restoration. By 2019, 67% of the mangrove forests in China had been enclosed within protected areas (PAs). In terms of the proportion of PAs of mangrove forests, China has achieved the conservation target of “Nature Needs Half”. The ongoing degradation of mangrove forests was assessed at the species, population, community and ecosystem levels. The results show that despite the strict protection, the remaining mangrove forests are suffering extensive degradation due to widespread anthropogenic disturbance. Of the 26 mangrove species, 50% are threatened with extinction, a proportion higher than the average for all higher plants in China (10.8%). Local extinction of some common species like Bruguiera gymnorhiza is widespread. About 53% of the existing mangrove areas were dominated by low-intertidal pioneer species. Consequently, the carbon stock in vegetation has decreased by 53.1%, from 21.8 Tg C in the 1950s to 10.2 Tg C in 2019. Meanwhile, there is an estimated 10.8% concomitant decrease in the carbon sequestration rate. The root cause for this degradation in China is seawall construction because most mangroves are outside seawalls in China. Without fundamental changes in protection and restoration strategies, mangrove forests in China will continue to degrade in spite of strict protection and large-scale restoration. Future mangrove conservation effort should aim to preserve the diversity of both the biota and the ecological processes sustaining the mangrove ecosystem. A few suggestions to raise the effectiveness of mangrove conservation actions were provided.

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“…For instance, despite the numerous ecosystem services they provide to urban communities (Benzeev et al 2017), mangrove forests are cleared in many coastal areas to make way for urban development (Harper et al 2007, Martinuzzi et al 2009, Lai et al 2015, Richards and Friess 2016. Where urban mangroves are left intact, they are vulnerable to deleterious effects from artificial structures constructed nearby; mangrove forests adjacent to seawalls tend to be narrower, with less leaf litter and fewer saplings than those without seawalls (Heatherington and Bishop 2012). Coral reefs and seagrass beds are also frequently built over (Chou 2006, Burt et al 2013, Yaakub et al 2014b).…”

Section: Loss Of Foundation Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an urban marine ecology: characterizing the drivers, patterns and processes of marine ecosystems in coastal cities

Todd

Heery

Loke

et al. 2019

Oikos

189

129

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Human population density within 100 km of the sea is approximately three times higher than the global average. People in this zone are concentrated in coastal cities that are hubs for transport and trade – which transform the marine environment. Here, we review the impacts of three interacting drivers of marine urbanization (resource exploitation, pollution pathways and ocean sprawl) and discuss key characteristics that are symptomatic of urban marine ecosystems. Current evidence suggests these systems comprise spatially heterogeneous mosaics with respect to artificial structures, pollutants and community composition, while also undergoing biotic homogenization over time. Urban marine ecosystem dynamics are often influenced by several commonly observed patterns and processes, including the loss of foundation species, changes in biodiversity and productivity, and the establishment of ruderal species, synanthropes and novel assemblages. We discuss potential urban acclimatization and adaptation among marine taxa, interactive effects of climate change and marine urbanization, and ecological engineering strategies for enhancing urban marine ecosystems. By assimilating research findings across disparate disciplines, we aim to build the groundwork for urban marine ecology – a nascent field; we also discuss research challenges and future directions for this new field as it advances and matures. Ultimately, all sides of coastal city design: architecture, urban planning and civil and municipal engineering, will need to prioritize the marine environment if negative effects of urbanization are to be minimized. In particular, planning strategies that account for the interactive effects of urban drivers and accommodate complex system dynamics could enhance the ecological and human functions of future urban marine ecosystems.

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Spatial variation in the structure of mangrove forests with respect to seawalls

Cited by 26 publications

References 35 publications

Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments

Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments

Can Strict Protection Stop the Decline of Mangrove Ecosystems in China? From Rapid Destruction to Rampant Degradation

Towards an urban marine ecology: characterizing the drivers, patterns and processes of marine ecosystems in coastal cities

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