Medium- and Long-term Recovery of Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems: Patterns,Rates and Restoration Effectiveness |
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Authors: | Ángel Borja Daniel M Dauer Michael Elliott Charles A Simenstad |
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Institution: | (1) Marine Research Division, AZTI—Tecnalia, Herrera Kaia Portualdea s/n, 20110 Pasaia, Spain;(2) Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA;(3) Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK;(4) School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, 1122 N.E. Boat Street, Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195-5020, USA |
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Abstract: | Many estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems have increasingly experienced degradation caused by multiple stressors. Anthropogenic
pressures alter natural ecosystems and the ecosystems are not considered to have recovered unless secondary succession has
returned the ecosystem to the pre-existing condition or state. However, depending upon the scales of time, space and intensity
of anthropogenic disturbance, return along the historic trajectory of the ecosystem may: (1) follow natural restoration though
secondary succession; (2) be re-directed through ecological restoration, or (3) be unattainable. In order to address the gaps
in knowledge about restoration and recovery of estuarine and coastal ecosystems, this special feature includes the present
overview and other contributions to provide a synthesis of our knowledge about recovery patterns, rates and restoration effectiveness.
From the 51 examples collated in this contribution, we refine the recovery from the list of stressors into six recovery mechanisms:
(1) recovery from sediment modification, which includes all aspects of dredging and disposal; (2) recovery by complete removal
of stressors limiting natural ecosystem processes, which includes tidal marsh and inundation restoration; (3) recovery by
speed of organic degradation, which includes oil discharge, fish farm wastes, sewage disposal, and paper mill waste; (4) recovery
from persistent pollutants, which includes chemical discharges, such as TBT; (5) recovery from excessive biological removal,
related to fisheries and (6) recovery from hydrological and morphological modification. Drawing upon experience both from
these many examples and from an example of one comprehensive study, we show that although in some cases recovery can take
<5 years, especially for the short-lived and high-turnover biological components, full recovery of coastal marine and estuarine
ecosystems from over a century of degradation can take a minimum of 15–25 years for attainment of the original biotic composition
and diversity may lag far beyond that period. |
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