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Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities
Published on: January 6, 2023
Marine macroinvertebrate ecosystem services under changing conditions of seagrasses and mangroves
Frederick Asante1, Marta Bento2, Stefanie Broszeit3
1Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal; MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal; Université Libre de Bruxelles, Department of Biology of Organisms (DBO), Av. Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050, Bruxelles, Belgium.
Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate the impact of changing environmental conditions on MMI ES in seagrasses and mangroves. We used data from satellite and biodiversity platforms combined with field data to explore the links between ecosystem pressures (habitat conversion, overexploitation, climate change), conditions (environmental quality, ecosystem attributes), and MMI ES (provisioning, regulation, cultural). Both seagrass and mangrove extents increased significantly since 2016. While sea surface temperature showed no significant annual variation, sea surface partial pressure CO2, height above sea level and pH presented significant changes. Among the environmental quality variables only silicate, PO4 and phytoplankton showed significant annual varying trends. The MMI food provisioning increased significantly, indicating overexploitation that needs urgent attention. MMI regulation and cultural ES did not show significant trends overtime. Our results show that MMI ES are affected by multiple factors and their interactions can be complex and non-linear. We identified key research gaps and suggested future directions for research. We also provided relevant data that can support future ES assessments.
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