Restoration transforms coastal wetland ecosystem services over time

Habitat restoration is increasing globally, aiming to recover biodiversity and ecosystem services. To assess the success and value of such restoration projects, we need to understand how and when they produce desired restoration outcomes. However, there is currently limited data-driven understanding of how biodiversity and ecosystem services develop over extended timescales (e.g., decades) following restoration. While ecosystem services can be challenging to quantify, functional traits can be used as effective proxies that are more easily measured. Here, we employed a space-for-time approach at multiple restored sites (6-33 years old) in two estuaries in eastern Australia (Hunter River estuary and Maroochy River estuary) to explore temporal trajectories of functional traits in coastal wetlands. We found diverse, often nonlinear temporal trends for numerous functional traits in mangrove and saltmarsh habitats, including saltmarsh cover, saltmarsh burrows, mangrove height, and mangrove saplings, all of which directly link to ecosystem services. Further understanding of ecosystem service changes after restoration can inform ongoing monitoring and management, which may improve predictions of recovery timescales. These will help refine restoration goals and manage project expectations, thereby increasing future restoration success.