Towards restoration of missing underwater forests

Alexandra H Campbell; E M Marzinelli; A Vergés; M A Coleman; P D Steinberg

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084106

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Towards restoration of missing underwater forests

Journal article

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Towards restoration of missing underwater forests

Alexandra H Campbell, E M Marzinelli, A Vergés, M A Coleman and P D Steinberg

PLoS One, Vol.9(1), e84106

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084106

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Abstract

Degradation of natural habitats due to urbanization is a major cause of biodiversity loss. Anthropogenic impacts can drive phase shifts from productive, complex ecosystems to less desirable, less diverse systems that provide fewer services. Macroalgae are the dominant habitat-forming organisms on temperate coastlines, providing habitat and food to entire communities. In recent decades, there has been a decline in macroalgal cover along some urbanised shorelines, leading to a shift from diverse algal forests to more simple turf algae or barren habitats. Phyllospora comosa, a major habitat forming macroalga in south-eastern Australia, has disappeared from the urban shores of Sydney. Its disappearance is coincident with heavy sewage outfall discharges along the metropolitan coast during 1970s and 1980s. Despite significant improvements in water-quality since that time, Phyllospora has not re-established. We experimentally transplanted adult Phyllospora into two rocky reefs in the Sydney metropolitan region to examine the model that Sydney is now suitable for the survival and recruitment of Phyllospora and thus assess the possibility of restoring Phyllospora back onto reefs where it was once abundant. Survival of transplanted individuals was high overall, but also spatially variable: at one site most individuals were grazed, while at the other site survival was similar to undisturbed algae and procedural controls. Transplanted algae reproduced and recruitment rates were higher than in natural populations at one experimental site, with high survival of new recruits after almost 18 months. Low supply and settlement success of propagules in the absence of adults and herbivory (in some places) emerge as three potential processes that may have been preventing natural re-establishment of this alga. Understanding of the processes and interactions that shape this system are necessary to provide ecologically sensible goals and the information needed to successfully restore these underwater forests. © 2014 Campbell et al.

Details

Title: Towards restoration of missing underwater forests
Authors: Alexandra H Campbell (Author) - University of New South Wales
E M Marzinelli (Author) - University of New South Wales
A Vergés (Author) - University of New South Wales
M A Coleman (Author) - Department of Primary Industries
P D Steinberg (Author) - University of New South Wales
Publication details: PLoS One, Vol.9(1), e84106; 11
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084106
ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
Copyright note: Copyright © 2014 Campbell et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451490802621
Output Type: Journal article