Biodiversity metric choice affects the credibility, comparability and financial viability of coastal restoration

Ashley Rummell; Jesse Mosman; James C Smart; Heather Keith; Hayden Borland; Christopher Henderson; Ben Gilby; Jackson Hazell; Jordan Murray; Rod M Connolly; Lucy Goodridge Gaines; Maria Fernanda Adame; Valerie Hagger; Catherine E Lovelock; Andrew Olds

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-9774851/v1

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Biodiversity metric choice affects the credibility, comparability and financial viability of coastal restoration

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Biodiversity metric choice affects the credibility, comparability and financial viability of coastal restoration

Ashley Rummell, Jesse Mosman, James C Smart, Heather Keith, Hayden Borland, Christopher Henderson, Ben Gilby, Jackson Hazell, Jordan Murray, Rod M Connolly, …

Research Square, Vol.19 June 2026

Research Square Company

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9774851/v1

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Abstract

Beta diversity

Ecosystem accounting

environmental markets

species composition

coastal wetlands

reference ecosystems

Restoration programs need biodiversity metrics that credibly demonstrate ecological recovery, support ecosystem accounting and inform nature-based finance. Yet assessments rely on alpha diversity metrics (e.g. species richness), which fail to measure changes in species composition. We compared eight alpha and beta diversity metrics across plant, bird and fish communities in unrestored, restored and reference coastal wetlands in eastern Australia. Metrics were evaluated for their ability to detect degradation, distinguish restored from unrestored conditions, identify resemblance between restored and reference communities, minimise variability, and reduce unrecovered monitoring costs. Beta diversity metrics consistently outperformed alpha diversity metrics. Sørensen Similarity (i.e. proportion of shared species) provided the clearest evidence of compositional recovery, showed low variability, and incurred the lowest unrecovered monitoring costs. Sørensen-based multi-diversity indices revealed clearer restoration gradients than richness-based indices. Biodiversity monitoring, ecosystem accounting, and market-based mechanisms should incorporate compositional metrics when recovery is defined by increasing resemblance to reference ecosystems.

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Title: Biodiversity metric choice affects the credibility, comparability and financial viability of coastal restoration
Authors: Ashley Rummell (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Jesse Mosman (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
James C Smart (Author) - Griffith University
Heather Keith (Author) - Griffith University
Hayden Borland (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Christopher Henderson - University of the Sunshine Coast
Ben Gilby (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Jackson Hazell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Jordan Murray (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Rod M Connolly (Author) - Griffith University
Lucy Goodridge Gaines (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Maria Fernanda Adame (Author) - Griffith University
Valerie Hagger (Author) - The University of Queensland
Catherine E Lovelock (Author) - The University of Queensland
Andrew Olds (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Research Square, Vol.19 June 2026
Publisher: Research Square Company
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9774851/v1
Copyright note: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Data Availability: The processed datasets required to reproduce the analyses, including plant, bird and fish community matrices, site and event metadata, biodiversity metric outputs and cost assumptions are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Grant note: This work was funded by Sunshine Coast Council
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991252399202621
Output Type: Preprint

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