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| Open AccessRemoval of detritivore sea cucumbers from reefs increases coral disease
Coral diseases are commonly sediment-associated. Here the authors conduct a field experiment in French Polynesia and Palmyra Atoll showing that removal of sea cucumbers that clean reef sediments while feeding increases coral disease.
- Cody S. Clements
- , Zoe A. Pratte
- & Mark E. Hay
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Article
| Open AccessMixed success for carbon payments and subsidies in support of forest restoration in the neotropics
Forest restoration in LMICs can contribute to global C mitigation targets. Here, the authors assess the economic feasibility of forest restoration methods in Panama, i.e. natural regeneration, native species plantings, and enrichment planting, showing that not all methods are economically viable.
- Katherine Sinacore
- , Edwin H. García
- & Jefferson S. Hall
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Article
| Open AccessShorebirds-driven trophic cascade helps restore coastal wetland multifunctionality
Ecological restoration success may depend on interactions between multiple trophic levels. Here, the authors show that top-down control of crab grazers by shorebirds could help rebuild wetland multifunctionality after invasive cordgrass eradication.
- Chunming Li
- , Jianshe Chen
- & Qiang He
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Article
| Open AccessHigh-temperature electrothermal remediation of multi-pollutants in soil
Soil contamination is a pressing environmental concern due to increasing anthropogenic activity. Here, the authors developed a rapid and energy-efficient electrothermal process that simultaneously removes heavy metals and organic pollutants in soil.
- Bing Deng
- , Robert A. Carter
- & James M. Tour
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Article
| Open AccessIncorporating human dimensions is associated with better wildlife translocation outcomes
Conservation biologists have made calls for including human dimensions in wildlife conservation efforts. This quantitative synthesis of case studies from a global IUCN reintroduction program suggests that inclusion of local stakeholders in wildlife restoration programs boosts success rate.
- Mitchell W. Serota
- , Kristin J. Barker
- & Arthur D. Middleton
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Article
| Open AccessThe potential for coral reef restoration to mitigate coastal flooding as sea levels rise
The capacity of coral reefs to keep pace with sea-level rise is central to their ability to continue to provide shoreline protection to vulnerable coastal communities. Here, the study shows that whereas restoration has the potential to minimize climate-change impacts, doing nothing will amplify them.
- Lauren T. Toth
- , Curt D. Storlazzi
- & Richard B. Aronson
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Comment
| Open AccessQuantifying the recarbonization of post-agricultural landscapes
Despite worldwide prevalence, post-agricultural landscapes remain one of the least constrained human-induced land carbon sinks. To appraise their role in rebuilding the planet’s natural carbon stocks through ecosystem restoration, we need to better understand their spatial and temporal legacies.
- Stephen M. Bell
- , Samuel J. Raymond
- & César Terrer
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| Open AccessMangrove reforestation provides greater blue carbon benefit than afforestation for mitigating global climate change
Blue carbon benefit has not been compared among mangrove reforestation and afforestation pathways at the global scale. This study shows that mangrove reforestation could perform a greater carbon storage potential per hectare than afforestation as its higher nitrogen availability and lower salinity.
- Shanshan Song
- , Yali Ding
- & Guanghui Lin
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| Open AccessDrivers of global mangrove loss and gain in social-ecological systems
Mangrove forests protect communities from storms and support fisheries. Here, the authors show that the association with economic growth has shifted from negatively impacting mangroves to enabling mangrove expansion, and that community forestry is promoting mangrove expansion.
- Valerie Hagger
- , Thomas A. Worthington
- & Megan I. Saunders
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Article
| Open AccessWin-win opportunities combining high yields with high multi-taxa biodiversity in tropical agroforestry
Resolving ecological-economic trade-offs is a challenge in agriculture. Here, Wurz et al. find that in Malagasy vanilla agroforests, vanilla yield is generally not related to tree, herbaceous plant, bird, amphibian, reptile and ant biodiversity, creating opportunities for conservation outside protected areas.
- Annemarie Wurz
- , Teja Tscharntke
- & Ingo Grass
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| Open AccessStatistical considerations of nonrandom treatment applications reveal region-wide benefits of widespread post-fire restoration action
Postfire sagebrush seeding treatments are widely applied across the western USA but evidence for the success of this restoration approach has been variable. Examining >1500 wildfires, this study shows that positive treatment effects were only detected after considering systematic differences between treated and untreated sites due to effects of selection biases in restoration.
- Allison B. Simler-Williamson
- & Matthew J. Germino
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| Open AccessLimiting motorboat noise on coral reefs boosts fish reproductive success
Using a season-long field manipulation with an established model fish system on the Great Barrier Reef, this study demonstrates that limiting motorboat activity on reefs leads to faster growth and survival of more fish offspring compared to reefs experiencing busy motorboat traffic. Noise mitigation and abatement could therefore present a valuable opportunity for enhancing ecosystem resilience.
- Sophie L. Nedelec
- , Andrew N. Radford
- & Stephen D. Simpson
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Comment
| Open AccessThe COVID-19 pandemic as a pivot point for biological conservation
The COVID-19 lockdown reduced human mobility and led to immediate insights into how humans impact nature. Yet the strongest ecological impacts are likely to come. As we emerge from the pandemic, governments should avoid prioritizing short-term economic gains that compromise ecosystems and the services they provide humanity. Instead, the pandemic can be a pivot point for societal transformation to value longer term ecosystem and economic sustainability.
- Amanda E. Bates
- , Sangeeta Mangubhai
- & Valeria Vergara
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| Open AccessA meta-analysis of the ecological and economic outcomes of mangrove restoration
Ambitious global targets exist for mangrove restoration. A meta-analysis reveals how mangrove restoration provides higher ecosystem benefits over unvegetated tidal flats, while generally lower than natural mangroves. Restoration outcomes, however, depend on restoration age, species and method.
- Jie Su
- , Daniel A. Friess
- & Alexandros Gasparatos
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| Open AccessMimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success
Coastal restoration tends to be failure-prone and expensive. Temmink and colleagues improve seagrass and cordgrass transplant survival in field experiments using biodegradable structures which temporarily mimic self-facilitation occurring in mature vegetation stands, and combine onsite and laboratory measurements on sediment stability and stem movement to test the biophysical mechanisms.
- Ralph J. M. Temmink
- , Marjolijn J. A. Christianen
- & Tjisse van der Heide
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| Open AccessAcoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat
Healthy coral reefs have an acoustic signature known to be attractive to coral and fish larvae during settlement. Here the authors use playback experiments in the field to show that healthy reef sounds can increase recruitment of juvenile fishes to degraded coral reef habitat, suggesting that acoustic playback could be used as a reef management strategy.
- Timothy A. C. Gordon
- , Andrew N. Radford
- & Stephen D. Simpson
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Article
| Open AccessA Lévy expansion strategy optimizes early dune building by beach grasses
Random walk movement patterns with specific step size distributions are commonly associated with resource search optimization strategies in mobile organisms. Here, the authors show that clonal expansion of beach grasses follows a Lévy-type step size strategy that optimizes early dune building.
- Valérie C. Reijers
- , Koen Siteur
- & Tjisse van der Heide
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Correspondence
| Open AccessReply to ‘Inconclusive evidence for rapid adaptive evolution’
- Camilla Lo Cascio Sætre
- , Charles Coleiro
- & Fabrice Eroukhmanoff
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Correspondence
| Open AccessInconclusive evidence for rapid adaptive evolution
- Júlio Manuel Neto
- , Staffan Bensch
- & Bengt Hansson
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Article
| Open AccessRapid adaptive phenotypic change following colonization of a newly restored habitat
Rapid local adaptation could potentially facilitate the recolonization of restored habitats. Here, the authors show that reed warblers have undergone substantial adaptive change in body mass in only 19 years after colonizing a restored wetland in Malta.
- Camilla Lo Cascio Sætre
- , Charles Coleiro
- & Fabrice Eroukhmanoff
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Article
| Open AccessAnthropogenic ecosystem disturbance and the recovery debt
Recovery of damaged ecosystems can vary in time and extent. Here, Moreno-Mateos and colleagues perform a meta-analysis to describe and quantify what they call recovery debt, an interim reduction in biodiversity, populations, and biogeochemical function of ecosystems during the recovery process.
- David Moreno-Mateos
- , Edward B. Barbier
- & José M. Rey Benayas
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| Open AccessA global meta-analysis on the ecological drivers of forest restoration success
Restoration of degraded ecosystems is known to enhance biodiversity and vegetation structure. Using a global meta-analysis, Crouzeilles et al. identify the drivers of restoration success in forest ecosystems at both the local and landscape scales.
- Renato Crouzeilles
- , Michael Curran
- & José M. Rey Benayas
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| Open AccessAfforestation or intense pasturing improve the ecological and economic value of abandoned tropical farmlands
Restoration of abandoned farmlands has the potential to improve ecosystem functions and benefits. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Knoke et al. show that ecological and economic indicators favour either afforestation or intense pasturing of these abandoned areas in the tropical Andes.
- Thomas Knoke
- , Jörg Bendix
- & Erwin Beck
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| Open AccessRecovery and resilience of tropical forests after disturbance
Forest recovery after past disturbances can help to understand how forests will respond to future scenarios. Here, the authors analyse palaeoecological records from tropical forests and find that Central American and African forests have recovered faster after disturbances than those in South America and Asia.
- Lydia E. S. Cole
- , Shonil A. Bhagwat
- & Katherine J. Willis